The Infinity Link: Bonded by Fate
by MLfan64
Summary: After meeting for the first time, Steven and Connie are mysteriously cursed to never walk more than 5 feet away from one another, without any way to break the curse. They have no choice but to live and fight together in hopes that they'll one day figure out why they're together at all. (AU)
1. The Bubble Breaks, the Bond Remains

**Bonded by Fate**

The Bubble Breaks, the Bond Remains

 _A/N: Real quick before we start, I wanted to say, welcome! Just so everyone knows, this chapter has been rewritten to be up to the quality you would expect in the later parts of the story to, you know, put a better foot forwards. I'm sorry if there's a quality drop after this chapter, but just rough it out until chapter 7 or so and it gets better and stays better, trust me. Anyways, have fun reading the new and improved chapter one._

* * *

I woke up from a dream in a cold sweat in the middle of the night. What had I been dreaming about? It had to be a nightmare, right? I mean, duh, that's usually what a cold sweat means.

Weird, usually I remembered my nightmares. I mean, it wasn't weird enough for me to think too hard on it. If I did remember it my dream, I would've put it in my dream journal, but that's kind of hard if I don't know what I dreamt. I smiled wider at that little half-joke. Then I just tried to get back to sleep.

Wait. I smiled… wider? But I didn't smile in the first place. And if I didn't remember intentionally smiling in the first place, that meant I had been smiling since I woke up in the first place. _That_ opened my eyes. I woke up in a cold sweat, and was smiling about it? That's not normal. What the heck was I dreaming of? I couldn't remember a thing about the dream. I realized, that in and of itself _was_ unusual. I always remembered my dreams. That's why I kept a dream journal. So why couldn't I remember this one?

It might seem small to someone else. Maybe a bit strange, but it could wait until morning. But not me. It's my creed: even the smallest of details must have some sort of explanation. Whether that means I'm a young Sherlock Holmes or just really weird remains to be seen.

So, I thought about my dream, with all the strangeness surrounding it. The only dream I had ever forgotten, as far as I know. Why would I wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat if it wasn't a nightmare? And if it was a nightmare, why was I smiling? Further, what caused it to disappear from my consciousness in the first place? It's not that I have echoes of thoughts long gone like it would normally be when I woke up for a dream with no memory. It's that I reach deep within my brain to try to find the memory and it's simply not there.

I was thinking too hard about this. Any more and it would be impossible for me to wake up again. I write down my strange findings in my dream journal so I could examine it in the morning. My work done, I closed my eyes to get back to sleep. There's something off about the darkness, though. I see a faint image in front of my vision, like the imprint a light might burn into your vision before your cones and rods react. There's usually those things in your vision, so I might have passed this off as normal, but this seemed to have a more definite shape to it. What was it? An eight? No, an infinity sign.

My eyes flew open. What could it mean? This was getting interesting. A strangely missing memory paired with a strangely appearing infinity sign. I knew, this was no coincidence.

In my journal, I dog-eared the page and drew an infinity sign across the upper portion of the page. I slammed it shut. Now here was a mystery. And I swore I would find out what it meant or my name wasn't Connie Maheswaran!

…Great. All that attempted mystery solving fully woke me up. Now it would be _ages_ before I could fall sleep again!

* * *

I sat on the beach, happily reading my new book.

I thought that dream would be the most interesting thing that would happen to me that day. Speaking honestly, the only reason I put so much thought into that dream was because nothing interesting ever happens to me. It's summer vacation, the time you're supposed to meet with friends and stuff, and all I ever do is read a book! What kind of a person am I? Not a social butterfly, I'll give you that. The truth is, I know that dream was a fluke. Sure, I was smiling and sweating at the same time, so what? And the sign was just me seeing patterns that weren't there. But if I don't make mysteries out of little things like this, how else would I stay sane? I have a pretty boring life, all things considered.

Little did I know, that was about to change…

Because it was then a boy walked up to me and both saved my life and changed it forever.

* * *

I was just sitting in the same place I always sat, reading the same book I always read. I felt a small earthquake, but I didn't think too much of it. It was only one of many that happened that day. Still, I happened to look up from my book, just to see if this one was anything special. I heard a cracking sound from above me, so I looked up in curiosity. And I saw it. I looked death in the eyes. A giant rock was headed straight for me, and I froze. I couldn't believe my eyes. I rubbed my glasses, but the boulder was going to hit me all the same. My whole life should've been ahead of me, but I was going to die before I had a chance to live it.

I think I heard someone yell something nearby, but it was drowned out. Maybe 'Watch out?' But it was too late for me to get out of the way. In those few seconds, my life flashed before my eyes, literally. I saw all of the experiences that had lead up to that point, and I wasn't happy with what I saw. I just saw a loser who sat in the back of class, trying her head to keep her head down and not taking any risks whatsoever. Somebody who nobody would care if she disappeared. And with those memories came the ones I tried so hard to forget. A name flashed into my brain, Kelia. Who was that? It was too late to know, now. I lost my chance to dodge, and if it didn't kill me it would break every bone in my body. I couldn't even close my eyes to block it out, I could only stare at my oncoming death.

And as I looked upwards, a pink screen somehow formed in between me and the rock. Was… was that me? Could I summon shields like that? But then I noticed someone standing beside me. A slightly chubby kid (I didn't care about that at the time) wearing a red shirt with a golden star in the middle. He held up his hands and formed a bubble between us and the falling rock, saving my life.

"Hi, my name is Steven!" he said. He held out his hand to help me off of the floor.

The moment I touched his hand, I felt a rush of energy into me. He was apparently magic, right? Maybe I was the protagonist of an adventure book. Maybe just did just get some magic powers. I mean, apparently magic existed, that was kind of a surprise to me. He pulled me up off the ground.

"Connie," I said.

* * *

The rest of the day was a rollercoaster. Sometimes literally. After a crazy series of events, we ended up trapped at the bottom of the ocean together, just the two of us. I was angry at first. He had saved my life only to have the two of to die anyways. But he was so… earnest. He wasn't like the backstabbing kids at my old school, where you could never tell who was really your friend. This was somebody who had just met me and would probably go to the ends of the earth to make me happy.

"I'm sorry Connie," he said, "if I had returned your bracelet back then, you wouldn't be stuck in this bubble with me now."

I couldn't stay mad at Steven. It wasn't his fault all this happened. I mean, yeah, I guess it technically was, but he still didn't mean to. "No, it's okay. I'm having fun."

We sat for a few seconds, smiling. There were worse people I could be trapped with, I supposed.

Suddenly, the bubble keeping us at the bottom of the ocean popped. Water came rushing inwards, and I struggled to keep water from entering my lungs. I panicked a little, but Steven thought fast. He put his hands in mine in an attempt to calm me down and pointed upwards, gesturing for us to swim to the surface. I nodded, and together, we swam our way upwards. I looked around into the clear blue waters, but the giant eel was nowhere to be seen, thank goodness. Finally we breached the top, for some fresh, fresh air. After we both took a deep breath, we looked at each other for a few seconds. And Steven burst into laughter. All that, and we're okay. His laughter was incredibly infectious, and soon I was laughing as well.

I felt a small ripple of water underneath us. That was our only warning before the giant worm monster burst its way upwards from directly below us with an ear-splitting screech, knocking us up into the air and sending us spiraling towards the beach. It kind of made me wish we still had our bubble at this point. So we hit the sand hard. I was in pain, but I didn't have time to think about that. In the few milliseconds of reaction time that I still had, I saw Steven was still on the ground. "Come on, come on!" I yelled, pulling Steven to his feet.

I had the idea to run to the rocks to hide in while he tried to run at the wooden pillars supporting the nearby dock for his own reasons. Maybe he had a plan, maybe it was just as simple as hiding in the dense jungle of pillars. It didn't matter, we were splitting up so at least it would only go after one of us. Then the strangest thing happened. I barely got a few feet towards the rocks before I felt a sudden pull in the direction of Steven. I was thrown off-balance and fell to the ground. I looked over to see that Steven had found a similar fate.

I didn't have time to think about why it happened, because the worm squirmed out of the water and charged straight at us. Steven helped me up and again, and again we tried to run in separate directions. Again, I felt that strange pull in the other direction. I managed to stay on my feet this time, but insead of me going my way and him going his, we ended up going just about straight, right into one of the wooden pillars holding up the dock. We both crashed right into it and fell to the ground.

Steven dizzily got up. "What's happening?" Steven said, but before I could say I didn't know, the worm thing had already caught up to us. It slammed into us again, collapsing the pillar of wood we were laying under and sending us spiraling into another one of the supports. The worm screeched and shook the rubble of the support off itself.

I shook my head to clear the pain. "Why is it chasing us? I thought it only cared about shiny things!"

Steven's eyes widened. He said, "Your bracelet's shiny! That's what it's after!"

The worm lunged at us again. I dodged right, Steven left. But the invisible force again pulled us inwards. Steven pulled at my hand and we both went to the left, dodging the worm's assault by a hair.

"We have to get it to keep crashing into the pillars," Steven said. "If the dock crashes on top of it, we might stand a chance."

"But _we're_ under the dock!" I said.

"We can figure that out later!"

I took a deep breath and grasped his hand harder. "I guess it's a good a plan as any."

The universe already conspired to kill me and failed. I wasn't going to let it do it again. I mustered up all the courage and energy I had in me after all that had happened and ran like my life depended on it.

I held the bracelet high in the air, and the worm, seeing it so directly, charged straight at us. I was terrified, frozen in place. Because up until that point it had always attacked from behind, and now I saw the worm itself… two rows of spinning teeth, a giant priceless gemstone right down it's gullet, and the whole thing was a blood red color. If that had hit one of its assaults directly, I would already be dead.

Steven lunged to the side, and for once I was glad for the invisible force. Steven dodged to the side, and I was pulled down, sliding across the ground. The mouth missed me entirely, the body didn't. The scales scraped against my back, shearing off my clothes and then a layer of skin. I cried out in pain.

The worm crashed into another pillar and was dazed.

Steven grimaced at my wounds. "Okay," Steven said. "There's this stupid… link thing in the way. Before you ask, no, I don't know what it's all about, we need to work around it." He grabbed my hand. "If we move, we move together."

The Worm charged us again, and we both dodged to the right. Finally, something went our way. The worm hit the pillar and not one of us. But it didn't take nearly as long to shake itself off this time. With almost no warning, it charged at us again.

We had no choice but to just run through the maze of pillars all around us. The worm fortunately didn't seem to have any other attacks other than 'chase down as fast as possible,' but that didn't exactly change the fact that we were in a tight situation.

The more we ran, the angrier the worm got. It stopped worrying about pain and it entered a frenzy, crashing into pillars left and right. As the two of us ran down the beach, The dock began to give way. I looked up and saw a giant chuck of wood headed straight at us! I pulled Steven out of the way, but just barely. More and more chunks started falling, and I knew all it would take was one more blow to the dock's structural integrity to take the whole thing down. We were deep into the dock, and with the woody rubble everywhere, there wasn't any way out. My stamina was running out, and the worm was gaining on us. If the calculations I made were right, if we kept on our current path, we were about to get eaten.

Steven apparently came to the same conclusion. "We're not going to make it!" He yelled.

But I said _if we kept on our current_ path, didn't I? So it was time to change that.

I scanned the area. We were too far away to get out of the dock area. So what could I do? I might be able to stop the worm if I threw the bracelet away, but we would still be left under this still-collapsing dock with no way out. The structural integrity was too far gone to be saved. So what could we do?

 _I can't just throw the bracelet away. But that doesn't mean I can't use it at all…_

I had an idea. It was stupid and probably suicidal, but it was better than our current one. I quickly worked out the angles in my head and threw my bracelet straight up into the air. I immediately tackled Steven in the back, and the two of us rolled across the sand. The worm lunged up towards the bracelet and into the dock above us, dealing the final blow to the dock's structural integrity. The dock groaned and the whole thing collapsed. The worm was skewered by several sharp pieces of wood, but no blood came out. Even though rubble was falling everywhere, the worm's body, which was now right above us, shielded us from the collapsing dock. As the last of the pieces of the dock fell, the worm screeched its final screech, then seemed to disappear into nothingness, a single gem falling a few feet in front of us. A few pieces of rubble fell nearby, but we were fine.

I was breathing heavily. Slowly, the two of us slowly got up. I was okay. I was a little bruised, a little bloody I guess, but all in all, I was okay. Honestly, anything short of death would be 'okay' for me.

After it occurred to Steven we were out of danger, he was overcome with guilt. "Connie, I am so sorry you had to deal with that. You nearly died! You know what, I'm a horrible friend. I say hi to you, then I trap you in a bubble, and just as we escape the next thing you know I'm forcing you to fight a giant monster! You probably hate me. I am so… sorry?" Steven looked up as he said the last sentence to see me grinning from ear to ear.

"You're sorry? _You're sorry?_ Are you kidding me? That was the Awesome! The worm was chasing us, and you were like, 'Hold on, we're going to collapse the dock,' then I was like, 'Let's do it,' then we did but the dock was collapsing, and you were like, 'We're not going to make it', then I was like 'Not if I have anything to say about it' and I threw the bracelet straight up into the air and even when the dock collapsed over us the worm protected us and then it diead and became a priceless gemstone for some reason and… and… that was the coolest thing that ever happened to me."

Steven relaxed and grinned with me. "Oh, that? That was nothing. You should've been there when I defeated the Centipeedle with nothing but a refrigerator!"

"All on your own?"

"Well, the gems helped a little bit…"

"STEVEN! STEVEN, ARE YOU OKAY?!" A voice cried out.

"PEARL!" Steven cried out. Turning to me, he said, "She's one of the gems I mentioned. You'll love to meet her. PEARL, OVER HERE **!** " He began to climb through the rubble. I was suddenly pulled forwards, faceplanting into the floor. I rubbed my forehead. "So, I've been meaning to ask, what's with this thing?" I said.

"I, uh…" he said.

"You don't know."

"Not in the slightest."

A shiver ran down my spine. "We… we aren't going to be stuck like this, are we?"

"No, no. Of course not. The gems will know what this is and get us out in, like, three seconds. Don't worry."

I breathed out the breath I hadn't know I had been holding.

Steven looked at the rubble surrounding us. "Well, we still need to get out of this rubble, strange invisible force or otherwise. We climb together, then?"

I nodded. "Together."

It wasn't easy, but we climbed out. It turned out it wasn't random, it activated whenever we got more than 3 feet away from one another. Once we figured that out, it was simple enough to climb together. When we reached the top of the pile of wood, I saw a few people at the edge of the dock. And even from this distance, I could tell they weren't human. For one thing, they were all technicolor. I mean, maybe they were just wearing bright clothes, but the clothes seemed to be attached to them.

The second biggest of them, the one dressed in a bright blue, ran over to the two of us, full speed, nimbly dodging around the rubble all around us. I was a bit nervous, I didn't want to have to deal with another foe, but Steven didn't seem scared. When the blue 'gem' reached us, she hugged Steven. She said, "Oh, thank goodness you're okay! I can't believe you took down that thing all by yourself! By the time we found you, the dock was already collapsing and that monster was chasing you. Oh, I feared for the worst. But somehow, you beat it! I'm so proud of you!"

"Stop it, Pearl! You're choking me!" Steven said.

Pearl dropped him. "Oh, but you make me so proud!"

"It wasn't just me," Steven said.

"Oh, yes," she said, turning to me. "You simply must tell me your name so I can thank you better."

"It's Connie, Ma'am," I said. This… what I thought to be some sort of superhero, she was talking to me.

"Well, Connie, you were very brave, rushing in there with Steven when you could have easily run away."

The two of us exchanged a look, but before we could say anything about it, another gem jumped over to us. "Seriously, great going there, Steven! I couldn't have done better myself."

"Guys, could you please stop the praise? You're kind of embarrassing me. Besides, it wasn't all me. Connie's the only reason we're still alive, after all."

The two gems looked onto me with a new respect. "Really?" the shorter one said. "Well, you're slacking if you let a _human_ save your life. Connie-girl, what's he talking about?"

"It-it's nothing," I said. This was a team of superheroes, I didn't hold a candle to what they did every single day. "All I did was tackle Steven so we could duck under the worm. He's the one who realized the worm was after my bracelet and had the idea of collapsing the dock on top of it in the first place. You're right to be thanking him, compared to him I did nothing."

"Nothing?" Steven said. "Connie, you sacrificed your bracelet! Don't try to underplay it, I saw what you did. Even though we were running at full speed, you managed to find just the right angle and velocity and stuff so not only would you defeat the worm but also save us from the falling dock? I couldn't have done that. It was nothing short of brilliant!"

"It was just my tennis practice helping, It helped me easily work out the angles. Really, I was terrified the whole time. You were the one who did most of the work."

The final gem, who I hadn't even realized had waded through the rubble yet, appeared before us and said, "You were scared, yet you went with Steven and defeated the monster anyways. That isn't fear. That's bravery."

I chuckled nervously. "I'm not brave. Really. I just had no choice but follow him. The worm was chasing after me, it was chasing my bracelet, so it was more that Steven followed me."

Pearl shook her head. "Why do you humans deflect our compliments so much? You saved Steven's life, it's okay to admit it! Of course you had a choice but to follow him, you could have handed him the bracelet and ran off. But instead, you went right into the fight and even dealt the final blow. You did an excellent job, especially for a human."

"No, you don't understand," I said. "I physically had no choice but to follow him. The best I did was think well under pressure. But I literally couldn't have gotten away."

The three gems looked at me with blank expressions. Steven finally stepped up to my aid. "No, it's true! I mean, Connie was totally way more awesome than she's letting on, but there really is something weird going on. Connie and I… it's like there's some sort of invisible force linking us. It's kind of hard to explain. The best way to see it is if I show you."

He walked away from me, but after we had walked about 3 feet away from each other, the invisible force pulled us both backwards. It wasn't like a wall, it was more like very strong bungee cord pulling me back towards him. I braced myself against the ground, then leaned backwards into the air. I could lean on thin air. That's pretty cool. I hoisted myself up and we stepped closer to each other again.

There, I'd proved it. "I'm not brave, see? So stop comparing to me to all this magical nonsense when I'm just some normal, out-of-town girl who. I'm not all that special." I saw the shocked looks of on the three faces in front of me. "Oh, yeah, and could you maybe figure out a way to stop this? He seems like a nice kid, but I don't want to be chained to him for the rest of my life."

* * *

The gems brought us up to a beach house that seemed to be sitting atop a giant statue. There was a beautiful view of an ocean out the windows, and the whole house, despite being home to 3.5 superheroes, was quite homely. It would have been very peaceful if it weren't for the scene before me.

"It isn't in any of the history books," Pearl said. "This can't be something new. I've tried both the rod of separation and the mirror of resetting, and they don't work. It can't be something Rose did, or I would've heard of it. I don't get it, what's going on?"

The one I learned was named Amethyst tried to get her to stop ranting. "Calm down, P. Maybe Rose did do it once and you just never learned about it or something."

"No, that can't be right. She would have told me. But there has to be something I'm missing! What if… what if we can't fix it?"

That made my heart skip a beat. These guys were supposed to help! If they didn't know what was going on…

Amethyst quickly dismissed the thought. "Look, the bubble they were in popped after, like, 10 minutes. There's no reason to panic about this. Worst case-scenario, it'll be gone by morning."

I relaxed a bit. Maybe Pearl always overreacted like this or-

Wait.

Did she just say…?

"Did you just say it might not go away until tomorrow morning?!" No, no, no no nonononono- "You have to fix this. You have to fix this now. There is no way I my parents will kill me."

Steven, despite the panic in the room, suddenly smiled so wide his eyes seemed to glitter. Actually, looking more carefully, his eyes literally became stars, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. "We can have a sleepover. I've always wanted one of those! Please, please, can I, can I can I?"

Pearl was skeptical. "I don't know, is that really the best idea? We just met her."

"Come on, we're going to be together no matter what we do, right? So why not make it official? Maybe it'll go away when we're both happy, like in the bubble! And what better way could we get our emotions up than a sleepover? Oh, and it'll give you more time to test your gadgets on us. Oh, PLEEEEAAASE?"

Pearl sighed. "Oh, I suppose I can't resist those eyes. Yes, you can have a sleepover."

"Yes! Oh, thank you, Pearl!" Steven said.

"Guys, wait. What am I going to tell my parents about all of this? There's no way I could tell the truth. And how would I lie? 'Oh, I just met this boy today, but I swear he's cool. Can I stay at his house for the night?'"

"Well, what would be wrong with that?" Pearl said.

"Haven't you ever heard what people say about strangers? They wouldn't let me anywhere **near** your house until you proved you were trustworthy. And no, before you ask, we couldn't stay at my place, either. Do you have any idea how hard it would be to convince Mom and Dad to let us sleep in bed together?"

"And why would that be a bad thing?" Pearl asked, genuinely curious.

"I- Okay, if you don't know, I probably should be the one to tell you. Okay, fine, I'll figure something out. But you're lucky you don't have to be the ones dealing with them!"

I started walking towards the door, only to be jerked backwards. I looked back at Steven, who was currently fallen over. "I was trying to get out of here so we could tell my parents as soon as possible. You coming or what?"

"Don't blame me! You didn't exactly tell me that you were going to walk towards the door."

Oh. Right. Okay, maybe I was in the wrong, here. "Okay… you're right, I'm sorry. But emotions aside, I really do need to talk to my dad as soon as possible. So could we go outside now?" Steven nodded. I grabbed Steven's hand we walked out the door.

On the way out, I heard Amethyst say, "I wonder what would happen if we pulled them _really_ hard away from each other…"

"You think that would work?" Pearl said.

"I mean, we wouldn't know until we tried, would we?"

"If that worked, I would give you that sword you've been asking for."

"Deal!"

We were outside before we heard the rest of the conversation. I stopped on the wooden walkway just outside of the shack. "So… aren't we going to your parents?" Steven asked.

"Yeah, but then I remembered that I had my phone in my pocket… this is awkward."

Steven rubbed the back of his neck. "Heh, I know how that's like. You want to come back into the temple, then? It is a bit warm out."

"I don't know. I don't really feel comfortable being around the gems. From what you said, they aren't even human!"

Steven tensed up a little. "Is… is that a problem?"

I flinched. "No, no, of course not! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it like that. It's just that, you know, yesterday I didn't even know that magic and monsters and stuff were real, and now I find out there's a task force of magic people looking over the earth, and have probably already saved my life multiple times. I'm having sensory overload here. I can't decide if it's awesome or terrifying."

He loosened up. "Okay, I'm okay. But I swear you'll warm up to them later. They might seem imposing now, but trust me, they're all really nice."

I smiled. "You know, Steven, thanks for being here to talk to, even if you don't really have a choice."

"Don't mention it," he said. I jumped up onto the rail of the balcony and looked out at the sea. I gestured for Steven to sit with me, and he jumped up onto the railing. We both checked out the breathtaking view.

We sat in a companionable silence for a few seconds. Finally, it was Steven to break the silence. "So, you said you were going to call your dad…?

"Oh, I almost forgot!" I said. "Oops…"

"No problem, just call him now. Well, let's cross our fingers, right?"

I took a deep breath and dialed the number. I had no idea what I would do if he said no. I couldn't exactly tell him that magic was real and I was stuck to another magic person for the night, could I?

Well, it was now or never. His voice crackled from the other end of the phone. "Hey, honey. What's up?"

"Hi dad! How are you doing?"

"It's slow here. I'm glad you called, honestly. It's something to do."

"Aw, don't mention it."

"I would assume that you didn't just call to say hi?"

"Yeah," I said. Okay, moment of truth. "I just met a new friend here in beach city, and I was wondering if I could maybe spend the night at his place."

"Oh really? Well, I'm very glad you're making friends."

I was somewhat surprised that he didn't immediately turn the offer down. Did that mean I had a chance? "You haven't said no yet, dad…"

"I'm going to have to talk to your mother, of course."

And there was the crux of the matter. Even if he said yes, Mom would say no. I couldn't let that happen. Time to play my last card and pray that it worked. "Come on, it's not like I have school or anything tomorrow. And you know I usually have so much trouble making friends. Well, now I made one and we really want to hang out together, and tonight is our first opportunity in a long time. Pleeeeeaaaase?"

"Alright honey, fine. I give you my permission. I'll talk to her about it."

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! You're the best, dad!"

"It's no problem. Now, be careful, dear. Don't do anything we would want you to."

"I'll be careful! I promise!"

"Okay, then, have fun."

"I will."

I hung up the phone. Steven looked at me expectantly. "So what'd he say?"

I smiled. "He said yes."

"Oh, yes! I knew it! We're going to have so much fun!"

"Yeah, fun." Suddenly, a though crossed my mind. "You know, why are you being so nice and stuff to me? I'm not exactly that special or anything and yet you treat me like I've been your best friend for years."

Steven shrugged. "Well, why wouldn't I be? I try to be nice to everyone."

"You're still treating me differently than other people. I can tell. Would you get this happy over anyone else sleeping over at your house?"

Steven actually stopped and thought about that. That was kind of the one response I didn't expect. Up until now, it seemed like he just always had an answer ready before I even asked the question. I wonder why this in particular one gave him a bit of pause.

"Honestly?" Steven said. "I don't know. I guess you're new, and new people are always exciting. But yeah, I think there is something more to that. Let's see, you seem nice. You were pretty cool defeating the monster and stuff, and you haven't complained at all about this whole situation with us being stuck together. And you're so upbeat, that's my favorite characteristic I could want to see in people! You seem like someone I want to know better. Plus, we're stuck together anyways, what would I have to gain from being all mopey about it?"

I blushed. There had to be something more than that, I wasn't that special. "Come on, you fight monsters for a living, right? What's so special about me? What's so special about a sleepover?"

"Oh, but that's where you're wrong. Sure, I might fight monster from time to time, but that shouldn't mean I ignore the rest of my life. Life's no fun if you have no one to share it with! Connie, stop being such a downer. I just said you were upbeat, I don't want you to change that. Come on, let's get ready for this sleepover. We have so much to do!"

Steven's bond thing pulled me along with him as we made our way back to the house. I thought about Steven. _Oh, Steven, you really are something. You spit off something so philosophical in a bright and cheery voice and then talk about a sleepover in the next sentence. You really are something else, aren't you?_

* * *

Wow, I never knew a sleepover could be so… weird. Also, incredibly fun! I mean, with Amethyst there it couldn't exactly be a normal sleepover. She eats plates, for crying out loud! I promised myself I wouldn't be too pulled into her games, but I failed that very quickly. Heck, she even convinced us to play a few party games _with_ our bubble-link (Amethyst made up the name), like tug-of-war and blindfolding each one of us and having the other lead them around using nothing but the link. She's definitely not as serious as the other gems, and that's kind of a double-edged sword. But she's really fun to be around.

Pearl broke up the pace from time to time. She came in every hour or so and tried another artifact from 'the temple' to try and break the link, with no success. After her original freak-out, she was a lot more methodical about it, trying artifact after artifact, but nothing seemed to work. She seemed like a nice person; all the gems do. Steven was right, they aren't intimidating at all.

Garnet, the third gem, though… I have a specific story to tell about her.

(Line)

Steven was reading a book at my request (He needs to learn about true artistry in the world!) and I was reading over his shoulder, when Garnet walked up to us.

"Oh, hey, Garnet," I said.

"Hello, Connie," she said.

"So, do you want to talk, or…?" I said.

Garnet nodded. "Everybody else seems to have forgotten, but I wanted to talk to you about what happened while you fought the giant sand-worm."

Oh, right. I had somehow forgotten about that. "Okay, what about it?"

"After the battle, you kept denying you did anything of worth. And I want to tell you that you're wrong."

"Come on, does it really matter what I think of myself right now?"

"Of course it does," Garnet said. "It's one of the most important things there is."

"Isn't that a slight exaggeration?"

"No. that's the complete and utter truth. I… I lost a few friends simply because they didn't believe in themselves."

I looked at the floor. "I- I'm sorry about that…"

"Don't be. Learn from their mistakes."

"But I didn't do all that much-"

"Tell me exactly what happened. I'll jusdge whether you really did nothing. Don't tell me any of your personal feelings, tell me the cold, hard, facts."

She had such an imposing stare. She was somehow even worse than my mom. I told her exactly what had happened, how I froze, how we both ran in tandem, What we said, and what I did to save our lives.

After hearing all of that, the first thing she said was, "You're an idiot."

"…" I said.

"You're an idiot if you think you did nothing. I'm not sure if I could've done better with what you had at your desposal. Steven was right, you saved his life. You not only saved his life, you escaped all harm in something that should have shattered at least a few of your bones. You preformed admirable, don't ever forget that."

And with that, she walked back into the temple and closed the door behind her.

Steven closed his book and looked up. He said, "Sorry, this book is amazing. Did I miss anything?"

* * *

So yeah, I have a newfound respect for Garnet. She was right, I should take responsibility for the bad and the good.

And the heavy stuff didn't let up. Because then, mom called on the phone. She was _not_ happy that Dad didn't check with her before allowing me to go on the sleepover. But she didn't blame me for anything, and I was free to stay, as long as I stayed safe. I'm so glad she wasn't in one of her 'moods' today, who knows what might have happened if she was. No point in dwelling in what-ifs, though. She was fine with it, yet another miracle.

By the end of the day, we were both exhausted. I've never had a sleepover before, but I was pretty sure they weren't usually that bad. Steven and I flopped into bed. I was pretty much caught up on what gems were, but it was still confusing. I mean, there were just these magical beings that had always existed that can use something that I would be crazy to not call magic? Bending light, my foot, it's magic. Anyways, we had been trying to sleep for a while, with little success. I wasn't used to sharing a bed. Not positive thought ran through my head. I turned to Steven. "What if we're stuck like this?" I said.

Steven shook his head adamantly and immediately. "Of course we won't be, Connie. Don't be ridiculous. It'll probably be gone by morning, like Amethyst said. Or maybe one of Pearl's gadgets will break the bond instead, she hasn't exhausted her supply yet. Or maybe I'll be able to do something about it. The bubble popped when we were happy together, maybe if we just have to have a similar experience again it would go away! Yeah, I could drag us down to the bottom of the ocean again, I'm sure that couldn't backfire at all."

I chuckled at that. But my stupid mind kept dragging me back to the same question. "But what if it doesn't?"

"Then we'll work through it. Together."

I lay back in bed. "I suppose tonight was fun. Why do you always know just what to say? I totally blame you if this doesn't get fixed, by the way."

"And what're you going to do about it then?"

"Then I'll boop you on the nose 5 million times!" I booped him on the nose. We laughed at that.

Maybe we laughed a bit too loudly, because Pearl's voice sounded from outside of the room. "Kids, get to bed. You organic life forms need your sleep."

"Yes, Pearl," we said simultaneously.

Once I was sure Pearl was gone, I spoke in a whisper. "Good night, Steven. I guess today was okay, after all. I killed a monster and made a new friend. Keep it up and soon I'll be my very own Lisa, right?"

"I don't know what that means, but sure. 'Night Connie."

And with that, we drifted off to sleep. _Yeah, he's right. It'll be okay. By tomorrow we'll look back and remember a time when we were Bubble-linked together. We'll think back and laugh…_

* * *

 _A/N: A monument to my first ever author's note…_

* * *

 _A/N: No idea how good this first chapter is. I was throwing ideas at a wall and I liked this one. This is more of a setup for the rest of the story, that's why it might seem rushed. I wanted to get into the good stuff! Anyways, hope you enjoy the story. Expect semi-frequent updates._

* * *

 _Cute, isn't it? And now inaccurate. I've officially went back and un-rushified it! I wanted to leave a good impression to anyone new to the story. So there's that. Again, I'm slowly working through editing the first 6 or so chapters to be up to standard with the rest of the story. Not that they're bad or anything, I still recommend reading them, but if you aren't impressed, wait until chapter 7 or so until the good stuff really comes._

 _Oh, and remember to review my story! I'll always respond to your reviews and comments, whether they be theorizing (this story is a mystery, after all), actual reviews, or just someone saying hi, so feel free to post something of the sort._

 _And if you like the idea and want to post a side story/spinoff/similar idea in another universe, just send me a PM to let me know and we can work something out._

 _You know, I just realized, unlike every other chapter, I didn't end this one with a 'next time' section! I always like to give teasers of what happens next in these author's notes. So here you go!_

 _Next time: we see if Connie was right and the Bond will be gone when she wakes up. Spoiler: there wouldn't be much of a story if it disappeared so easily. See you guys… well, I would say then, but it's out by now, so whenever you click on 'next chapter.'_


	2. So, What Now?

**So, what now?**

When I woke up today, I was on the floor. For the record, I wasn't on the floor when I fell asleep. But I was on the floor now.

My eyes bolted open and I was a bit bewildered. "Where am I? What happened? Why am I on the floor?" I looked up and saw Steven lying on the floor as well, and I connected the dots. "Oh, yeah. So, it didn't go away overnight?"

Steven rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry Connie, I kind of forgot. I needed to use the restroom, I just rolled out of bed like it was any other day, and, well, you know the rest. I'm sorry."

I sat up and stretched. "Yeah, it's okay. I understand why you would've forgotten."

"Thanks for accepting the apology. For the record, if I was stuck like this to anyone, I would choose you."

"Thanks, Steven. I think I'd choose you as well."

"You know, I don't want to tempt fate, but shouldn't you be angrier that the bond hasn't worn off by now like Amethyst said it would?"

"Oh, _please._ Have you met Amethyst? She's nice and all, but she doesn't exactly give good advice. But I'm not feeling all down in the dumps about it just yet. We haven't exhausted all the possibilities just yet. I was thinking, what if you were right last night. Your powers clearly run on emotion, right? Well, if it is you who's doing this, all we need do is… well, I didn't get that far. But something emotional."

"Gee, I never would have thought of that one." Steven deadpanned.

"Look, I'm hopeful today. I swear, we will break this bond or my name isn't Connie Maheswaran!"

"Yeah!" Steven yelled. We stood there for a minute. Steven looked around and said, "Could we go over to the bathroom now? I kind of need to go."

"Yeah, sorry."

We have a bit of a system going. I didn't mention it last entry, but the first time we had to go, it was awkward, to say the least. It turns out, there's just enough room for one of us to sit by the door while the other goes to the restroom. There just isn't quite enough room for us to wash our hands. One of us sits against the door while the other goes, then we open the door to allow the other to wash their hands. It's a bit tedious, but it's what we got. Something interesting happened while I was waiting, though.

I was twiddling my thumbs while Steven was in there when I happened to look at the palm of my right hand. It was so faint that I might have missed it if I had something better to do. Fortunately for me, I didn't. Right there, on my palm, was a symbol. Well, more of a pattern of off-color skin. It was too faint to make out much, but it seemed to be some sort of infinity sign, or an eight if I turned my hand. I know it wasn't there before. There were a few faded blobs inside the two 'O's, but I couldn't make what they were, it was too faint. I studied it for a while longer, but I couldn't make out any more details.

"Uh, Steven?" I said.

"I'm almost done, Connie."

"What? No, it's not that. Could you check your right palm for me?"

"…Why?"

"Trust me, just check it out."

I waited for a few seconds. Then Steven burst out of the restroom, spouting out words so fast I could barely understand them. "Wow, this is so weird! What is it? It's like a sideways eight or something! I swear it wasn't there before. Do you have one? Is that how you knew I would have one as well? What's with the faded shapes? Do you know what it all means?"

"Woah, woah! One question at a time. Yes, I have one, but I couldn't make it out very clearly. Of course I don't know what it means, I was just introduced to this magic stuff yesterday. No, it wasn't there before, but it probably has something to do with our bubble-link. Am I missing anything?"

"Hmm… You never answered about the sideways eight or the faded shapes, but I assume that's because you don't know the answer to either question"

I gave him a sideways grin. "Well, maybe not the faded shapes, but the sideways eight, I might. It-"

"Wow, really! You're so smart! So what does it mean?"

"…I was getting to that. I think it's an infinity sign."

"Wow, that's so cool!" Steven said. He thought for a second. "So what's an infinity sign?"

I sighed. "Why did I have the feeling you would ask that question? It represents the highest number imaginable."

"Woah. So, like, a million billion?"

"Okay, now take that number and add one. Then add one again. Then do it again. Then add one over and over again _forever_. Infinity is, for lack of a better word, infinitely large."

"Wow… I'm going to have to get pearl to re-explain that to me."

I sighed. "Well, at least you're honest about it."

"So, what does it mean?"

I worked my way over to the door we were standing in front of. "I already told you I don't know. Currently, I don't really care, because I'm tired and I need to go to the restroom." I said, shutting the door behind me.

* * *

Five of us were sitting in the kitchen together. Three of us were eating. Two of us were eating food. We had stayed mostly quiet throughout the meal. Finally, Pearl spoke up. "So, I assume we're still, you know, bound together?"

"How could you tell?" Steven said.

"Knowing you, you'd be dancing around the house and hugging everyone if you were separate."

"You have a point."

"But," I added, "we have a new development!"

"We do?" Steven said.

"Yeah, our friend on our palms."

"Oh, yeah! I'd totally forgotten about that." As we brushed our teeth and got ready, the conversation had drifted. I hadn't wanted to talk about it, and assumed Steven didn't as well. So we talked about other things, like dogcopter.

"What's this you're talking about now, ya bubble buddies?" Amethyst said.

"That name's a bit on the nose, I think," Garnet said.

Amethyst turned to Garnet. "Well, I liked it. But if you don't, I can think of something else." They seemed to have a thing going.

Pearl glared at Amethyst and Garnet. "What Amethyst was trying to say was, what's going on with your palms?" Pearl said.

"This strange infinity symbol appeared on our palms," Steven said, turning his hands towards Pearl.

"I don't see it." Pearl said.

"Look closer. It's really faint, but Connie noticed it."

"Good eye, Connie." Pearl said. I thought about denying it, but remembering what Garnet talked to me about yesterday, I took the compliment. "I wonder what it means."

"It means a really, really big number!" Steven said.

"Yes, I know what infinity means. I just meant, what does it mean relating to your link? It's clearly connected to all of this."

Amethyst gasped. "That's it!"

Pearl spun around sharply. "What is it? What did you figure out?"

"The perfect name for the link! I mean, bubble-link was okay, but hear me out: An infinity link! And we could call them the infinity team! Come on, who's with me?" Garnet nodded her approval and turned her attention back to Pearl.

Pearl slumped down. "Of course you aren't taking this seriously."

"Come on, why's this such a big deal? Just go with the flow. Stop stressing out so much."

"But what if it doesn't go away? What if I can't fix it? None of the artifacts that should have worked have done anything. We still don't know what this link is! And have you not thought over what it means if we can't get them separated? We couldn't take Steven on missions anymore, not without endangering Connie. Speaking of Connie, she would have a challenging time going to school if Steven had to tag along, and what could we tell her parents? Say goodbye to an average life for her. And those are just the problems I came up with off the top of my… head…"

Pearl seemed to notice what she had just said in front of who. She looked around at all of us. Steven and I both looked horrified. Garnet was covering her head with her hand. Even Amethyst was slowly shaking her head.

Pearl tried to save it. "Well, um- that's not what I meant exactly. Even if that was true, I'm sure the scepter of separation would work wonders. There's nothing to worry about."

Steven looked at Pearl with pained eyes. "Would I really not be able to go on missions if we aren't able to break the bond?"

"I was just… exaggerating to get my point across. I'm sure we could make things work…"

I didn't know what to say. I hadn't really thought over the full consequences yet, I guess. It was kind of devastating when she put it in that way. _If we stay this way, I'll never get a normal life, huh?_ I wasn't even angry, really, just shocked. The room was silent for about 10 seconds. Finally, Steven spoke up. "I'm going to take a walk," he said as he got up and left, practically dragging me along with him.

He led us out of the house and down to the beach, where we walked in silence for a bit. After a few minutes, he leaned against a rock and slumped down, turning his gaze to the sea. It was the same spot he met me at yesterday. I sat down beside him. The two of in silence for a bit, both of us simply staring into the blue waters. I wish I knew what to say. I'm not good with people, though. All I ever did was read books. I shoved those feelings down, though. Steven needed me. I gathered up all the courage I could muster and gave it my best shot.

I turned to Steven and said, "You know she didn't mean to hurt your feelings, right?"

Steven kept his eyes on the ocean. "Of course I know that. I'm not mad at Pearl."

I was phased, but I tried not to let it show. "Then… who are you mad at?" _Two sentences in and it's already going wrong…_

"I'm mad at the situation. I never realized that us being stuck together would mean that I couldn't do all the cool stuff I just started being able to do in the first place."

My phone started ringing. I muted it quickly. I thought that was it, I ruined it, but Steven didn't even seem to notice the call. "Steven, I went my whole life not being about to do all the 'cool stuff' you're getting to do now."

"Yeah, I guess I get that. But it's different for you. You didn't grow up knowing that someday you would be a part of something. This is probably all my fault, Anyways. Unless you want to blame the worm thing. Because of me, you're forever stuck following me. Maybe it'll still be this way when you're 40, right? Good luck making friends or getting in a serious relationship if I'm stuck with you."

Finally, I got it. He wasn't really angry that he couldn't go on missions. Maybe he was, but that wasn't the real problem. "Steven, listen to me," I said.

"I am listening."

"No, you're hearing me. But you're not listening, you're using my words as excuses to beat yourself up." I'd love to say that's something I made up, but I totally stole it from my mom. It still got the point across, though.

"Listen, huh?" he said, finally moving his head upwards a bit. "Okay, what do you want." For the first time, he turned and looked me in the eye. And I saw a little bit of gave me the boost I needed.

"The gems are flawed, I'll give you that. But they always want what's best for you. That's a fact. If something comes up, if another monster arrives, I know we can make it work. Who knows, maybe they'll let me fight with you, that'd be great. But that isn't your real problem, right? That's your cover story. The truth is, you blame yourself, you just said so. So might I ask: what are you blaming yourself for? You just let me stay with a bunch of magical beings and get away from my control freaks that are my mom and dad. You let me never go to school again, where I'm bullied every 2 seconds. So even if it is your fault, I should be thanking you! Look, I suck at this whole socializing thing. I started this by talking about the thing that didn't even matter to you, for crying out loud! But I know that you're not one to let this rule your life. So stop sulking and be the Steven Universe that accidentally trapped me in a bubble yesterday and never had a smile leave his face, not the stranger standing before me right now."

Steven looked at me for a few more seconds, then smiled. "Thanks, Connie. For someone who claims to have horrible social skills, that was a killer speech."

I blushed a little and turned to cover it up. "That was nothing. It was probably all a lie, anyways."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, the truth is, the gems hate you. They have tried to sabotage you at every turn and this is another one of their _brilliant_ schemes!"

"Connie…" Steven said as he chuckled.

"Yeah, and my parents really are gonna kill me for this. If that's literal, my death will be at your hands!"

"Connie!" He said, laughing now. I laughed with him.

We sat in a comfortable silence. Then a thought crossed my mind. "Well, our heartfelt moment quota has been met. Does that mean the Infinity Link gone?"

"So that's what we're calling it?"

"What can I say, it was catchy."

"Well, there's only one way to find out!"

We stepped away from each other, but slowly. Neither one of us really thought it would be gone. And there it was, the telltale tug at my body.

"Great," I said, trying to keep a straight face, "This whole thing was wasted. You put your heart on a silver platter for nothing. Thanks a lot, Steven." At the end of the sentence I couldn't keep it up any longer and grinned.

"Ha, ha, very funny, Connie. A few minutes ago, this was really important to me." Steven pouted. Suddenly, Steven made the telltale gasp of someone who suddenly remembered something. "Oh! We need to talk to the gems. They'll probably be beating themselves up about this."

"Yeah. Race you back!" I said, running to the temple, only to be stopped by the infinity link and falling to the floor. "Ow, forgot about that." I muttered.

* * *

We made up to the gems, it was all happiness and smiles. But then came the hard part. After _another_ round of pearl's artifacts and even one invention of her own design failed, we had to tell my parents. It was sooner than we thought it would be, too, when we heard a knock on th door to the beach house.

"Hello? Is Connie in here?" Mom called.

"Who's that?" Pearl said, a bit surprised. We had been in the middle of deciding what exactly we would be telling them.

"It's Connie's mom." Garnet said, although I'm not exactly sure how she knew that.

"Hello? Is anybody there?" called the voice again.

"Come on, somebody get the door! Stall her while we come up with a plan." I said.

"Oh!" Said Pearl, eager to make up for her earlier screw-up. She ran over and opened the door. "Terrible sorry about that, miss…?"

"Maheswaran," Mom said.

"Yes, sorry about not getting the door. Steven and Connie were having so much fun together!"

Garnet and Amethyst also came up to the door. "Thank you for allowing Connie to stay with us. We had a blast!" Amethyst said.

"Yes, I'm sure it was fun. But we really must get going. We're on a tight schedule, here. Connie, come one! Let's go!"

"Coming, mom!" I said. As the gems kept talking to mom, I turned to Steven. "What're we going to tell her?"

"How about the truth?"

"That's a horrible idea! Who knows how she'll react. What if she blames you?"

"Then what do you think we should do?"

I looked over. Mom was getting a bit angry at Pearl's stalling.

"Well, there's no hiding the fact that we're linked." I said.

Steven thought about it for a second. "We could lie about the source. We say it was from an object that washed up on the beach."

"We need a more convincing story than that. More details, at least. Okay, what was it?"

"Let's say it was a glowing rock. We both touched it and it burned an infinity symbol into our hands, then it disappeared."

"And we've been here trying to break the spell the whole time. You know, for an honest kid, you're a decent liar. Okay, here goes."

I heard mom yell, "Connie, come on. We're going to be late for your tennis practice."

The two of us came to the door. "I'm here, mom."

"Oh, thank the heavens. You weren't answering your phone! Come on, we're going to be late."

"Mom, there's something I need to tell you."

"Can't it wait?"

"No, it can't."

"Come on, you can tell me it in the car. We're already late."

"Mom, this is really important!"

"I don't like this attitude of yours, Connie. Let's go." Mom narrowed her eyes.

"Please, just listen to me! Steven and I-" She grabbed my arm and pulled me forwards. It didn't hurt, but it was firm enough that I couldn't escape it easily. Pearl and Amethyst tried to rush to my aid, but Garnet put an arm out to stop them. She pulled me to the stairs, but she realized she couldn't bring me any farther. Steven was holding his ground, but she didn't know that was the reason.

"Connie, why are you making this so difficult? I thought you liked tennis. Stop it with the holding back. We're already late, what's so bad about leaving this old place?"

"You still don't get it, do you? I'm not fighting back against you. He is." I said, pointing to Steven.

She was so confused by the statement that she stopped pulling. "What could that boy possibly do to make you not go forwards?"

"If you would just let go of my arm and listen, maybe you would understand."

She narrowed her eyes. Finally, she let go of my arm. "Okay, I'll bite. Now, what's so important that you're willing to miss tennis practice and risk punishment to tell me?"

I took a deep breath. This was the first time I had ever stood up to my mom. Steven started the story. "We were walking by the beach this morning and we came across a strange stone…"

I cut him off. "No, let's tell the truth. The truth is, Steven and I can't walk any more than maybe 3 or 4 feet away from each other at any given time. It might have been Steven's fault, but probably not. These infinity signs appeared on our palms this morning as well, so those are probably connected. We have no idea how it started, and no idea how to fix it. We'll probably be stuck like this for the rest of our lives, and I'm kind of okay with it. You want the truth, then there you go, mom."

Mom eyed me for a few seconds. "If that was a joke, you really need to work on your delivery."

I sighed loudly. "Look, you want proof? Garnet, you hold Steven. Mom, you, pull me that way. You try to tell me that there's no magic involved."

"And what if you're lying?"

"I don't know, take away my computer privileges for a decade. I would do just about anything to prove I'm not lying."

Garnet was already holding Steven. Mom eyed me up and down. "You're taking this joke all the way then, huh? Okay, I guess I'll pull you this way. But let the record show that I wasn't fooled, even for a second." She grabbed my hand and started walking across the boardwalk, only to be, of course, stopped by the infinity bond. She looked at me. I smiled innocently and shrugged. Come on, I couldn't help but get a little bit of enjoyment out of this.

She pulled harder. She looked for some sort of fishing line. She even had us move our location to prove it wasn't a set thing. By the end everyone was laughing at her attempts. Finally, she said, "Okay, I give up. You win. I'm sure you put in a lot of time to set this up. So, what's the secret? Or are you going to tell me the whole 'magician never reveals her secrets' spiel?"

All of us sighed loudly. Pearl finally stepped forwards, sick of all of this. "Look, why do you think your perfect, rule following daughter would suddenly decide to break the schedule and go hang with a friend she met just hours ago? No, more like minutes ago! Better yet, why stay for the whole night? What's your theory? And do you really think that Connie would lie to you about this at such a time? Look at her. Don't you know your own daughter enough to know she's telling the truth? Now, we could either sit here trying in vain to convince you that Connie is involved in something real, or we could talk like adults about what to do about it!" She turned to Garnet. "Sorry I butted in, but I couldn't just sit by any longer."

Garnet shook her head. "No, I was about to step in as well. There's nothing to apologise for."

Mom scanned all our faces and didn't see an ounce of deceit in any one of them. She spoke slowly. "Let's pretend I believe you. What do you mean, talk about what we're going to do about it?"

"Mom," I said, "We've been trying to break this infinity link for hours, today and yesterday. We're beginning to think it might never go away. We don't know what's causing it, and we don't know how to fix it. And if it stays, think about what that means. We would have to juggle both of our schedules as if we were one person, since we can't ever leave the other's side. Look, I'm not happy about it, but I need you to be here and I need you to believe me so that we can talk about what happens next." I stopped for a few seconds. She said nothing, I said, "So, do you believe me?"

She muttered to herself, "I can't believe I'm going through with this." She spoke up. "Yeah, Steven's… mom, I guess? The blue one, she's right. You wouldn't do all this unless you had good reason to."

No one bothered correcting her on the whole 'mom' thing. She finally believed us.

* * *

It took the gems all day, but Mom and Dad were both caught up with the situation. Dad was a bit frustrated at being called in on such short notice, but he quickly changed his mind about that once he understood the situation. They knew about the gems, they knew about Steven's powers, they even learned some stuff that I hadn't known until they asked about it, like a few things about Rose Quarts. Steven learned a few new things as well.

We were in the living room, talking about what was going to happen next, now that everyone knew what was going on, or at least the important stuff. My parents gave everyone a huge shock

"We want Connie to stay here." Mom said.

"Come on, she's your daughter. It would be okay if you wanted to do a sort of divorce-like system, an every other week thing or something," said Pearl.

"No, we've talked it over," said Dad. "Steven's really important, right? You guys save the world. What if the world was ending and he couldn't help because it was our week with the kids? No, you need those two more than we do."

"I don't want to take away your daughter

Pearl looked Mom to Dad and saw the steel in their eyes. Finally, she said, "You really are the parents of Connie, aren't you? I recognize those eyes. You aren't changing your minds anytime soon. Well, if Connie's okay with it…"

"Yes, I most certainly am." I couldn't believe this was happening.

"Then I guess we could look over the two of them for you. If the infinity link ever breaks, we'll let you know immediately."

"I'll visit often!" I said.

"Yeah!" said Steven. "You guys are really nice. There's no way I'd hoard Connie all to myself. And feel free to stop by here any time to check on us."

I ran over and hugged them. Steven was pulled into the hug as well. "Be careful, okay?" Mom said.

"Well, I'll try. Something dangerous will happen either way, right?"

She ruffled my hair. "Maybe letting her hang out with these guys was a bad idea," she said to Dad. "One day in and she's already giving us sass." We broke up the hug and they started walking towards the door.

"Stay safe!" Mom said.

"I love you!" Dad called one last time before they shut the door behind them.

"Well, they weren't so bad at all." Steven said. I lightly punched him.

Pearl cleared her throat to get our attention. "I have an announcement to make. So, as you know, for the time being we're going to be treating this as if this is permanent."

Steven and I exchanged a glance, not knowing where she was going with this. "Yes…" we said slowly.

"Well, I thought about what I said earlier, and you're right, Steven. I can't let you stop going on missions just because of this. But we also can't bring in Connie untrained."

"Yes…" we said slowly again. I was trying to figure out where she was going with this. I found out soon enough.

"Which is why… well, Connie, you've already proven your ability to think on your feet, which is essential in a fight. I know you're a bit young, but it would only be fair to both of you if you let me train you to fight with Steven, together."

 _A/N: Before you ask, yes, I did watch catch and release to make sure the toilet was close enough to the door, and no, I have no life. On Hulu, the description of that episode is literally "We finally see inside Steven's bathroom," which is the worst description of an episode I've ever seen, but it made it really easy to find an episode with a shot of the bathroom. On an unrelated note, don't expect these to come out this fast all the time. I'm just in a creative mood right now. Oh, and sorry, fans of Fusion Cuisine, but that episode clearly ain't happening in this cannon._


	3. Basic Training

**"** **Basic" Training**

We arrived at a strange gem colosseum thingy. It was old and decrepit, but it still looked cool. Pearl led us up the steps. "So, what would my training entail, then?" I said to Pearl.

"For today? I just want to see what you're already capable of. We'll work from there."

"This is just a baseline test, huh?" I said. "Cool. Just so you know, though, I'm probably going to score something like a zero."

"Don't sell yourself short, Connie," Steven said. "Most people would have frozen when faced with that sand worm."

"True. We're here to see how well that translates to fighting with weapons and not docks."

"Hey, good luck Connie!" Steven said.

Pearl gave him a sly look. "How about 'good luck Steven?' You're taking this test together, of course. What would be the point of separating you if you're fighting together from now on anyways?"

Both of us were a bit surprised, but it made sense the way she put it. Neither of us complained at all.

"This was an ancient gem battleground. Some of the earliest fights against Homeworld were fought here. But it will fit our purposes as a training ground quite nicely."

"What exactly is the training going to entail?" I asked.

"We'll start simple. I've brought one of the easier monsters we've had to defeat over the years here." She brought out a bubble containing a green gem.

I exchanged a wary look with Steven. "That doesn't sound too simple…"

"Don't worry. If it falls off this platform, it's toast. It has no way to fly. It shouldn't fight back, either. It didn't when we fought it the first time. And if things get out of hand, I'll be here. You have nothing to fear. I just want to see if the two of you have the ability to take it down yet. If not, that's fine, we'll just work our way upwards until we can. Okay?"

I looked at Steven, and he seemed confident. _If he isn't scared, I shouldn't be, either._ I nodded as well. Nothing to worry about.

"Okay?" she repeated.

"Yeah, okay," I said.

"Since you two don't have gem weapons, at least reliably, I chose a few swords from my collection that should suit you well. Connie, here is the sword of Valkania. No one knows where it came from, but it's cutting powers are unmatched. Steven, you get the sword of Zirconia famous for taking down the legendary bounty hunter of the same name."

We both removed the swords from their scabbards. They were both beautiful. We didn't have the time to fully look them over, though. Pearl said, "Remember, don't worry if you can't take it down, and don't be afraid to call for help."

"Yes ma'am," I said, taking on a fighting stance.

"We got it, Pearl. We're ready." Steven said.

Pearl popped the bubble and the gem dropped to the floor. We waited a second, then a white figure burst outward from its core. The image grew to a size that was about twice my height, solidifying into a final form. If I had to describe it, it resembled a huge howler monkey with armored fists and a green coloring throughout. It howled, fittingly enough, and lunged at us. The two of us, clearly not learning from the worm, tried and failed to jump in opposite directions. I was starting to get used to being rammed into nearby pillars.

Pearl was about to step in, but Steven yelled, "No, we have this!" He turned to me and said, "We have this, right?" I nodded. I got prepared for the monkey to charge again.

But the monkey didn't charge again. Instead, the creature now just eyed us from a distance. It wasn't making a move. Unperturbed, Steven and I charged it. I swung my sword in a mighty swing, but as the sword came down, the monkey had already brought up its paw and the sword harmlessly bounced off. Steven did the same, with the same results. We both started wailing away at the thing, but every swing we made was effortlessly deflected. We tried sneaking to its back, but when I swung my sword, the monkey's tail managed to get in the way. We tried luring it over to an edge to knock it off, but we couldn't get it angry enough to charge us. We might as well have been fighting a wall. Finally, we stepped back and tried to think.

"Okay, this clearly isn't working," I said. "We need a new plan. You got one?"

"Isn't that your job?" Steven said.

"No, your job is to come up with a plan. Mine is to improvise when it goes wrong. That's what happened with the worm."

"Fair enough. Well, we clearly aren't getting anywhere attacking it head on."

"We don't have any ranged weapons, though."

"We could throw our swords? I just have the feeling that he'd easily deflect that."

That line of thinking wasn't going anywhere. But it did lead me to an idea. "Actually, I might have a plan."

"What is it?"

"It's stupid, and probably suicidal."

"Aren't all the best plans?"

"Ours, at least. So here's what I got so far…"

* * *

"You're right, this was really stupid," Steven said

Steven was bracing himself to the ground as I stepped backwards. I felt the pull of the infinity link grow stronger and stronger as I did so, but I didn't stop. I grabbed onto a pillar and used it as leverage to pull even harder. The monkey just eyed us, seemingly curious. Finally, I couldn't pull any harder. "Well, that's why I'm the one who's risking her life!"

"Look, it's okay if you don't do this, guys. I can handle it for you…" Pearl said, clearly not liking this plan.

"It's okay. I got this." I said. I took a deep breath and put the plan into motion.

I released the grip and jumped upwards. The link pulled me forwards, running at full speed instantly. I jumped up and over Steven (no idea how I jumped that high. The monkey realized what was happening and tried to block it, but it was too late. I took my sword and plunged it into its forehead before it could block it, causing the monkey to howl one last time. I stood atop it, my hands on the sword and the sword in its head, triumphant. The infinity team was too much for the great howler monkey.

But then the monkey didn't 'poof.' I looked down and saw it beginning to glow white, but it still had some fight left in it. Its eyes narrowed. I scrambled to get off, but it blocked my escape. In its fading breath, it brought up its hand and hit me, hard enough that I was knocked off the colosseum, Steven in tow, spiraling towards the ground. I heard Pearl yell, "STEVEN!" as we spiraled closer and closer to the ground.

I saw the monster poof behind us, if that was any consolation.

I screamed at the top of my lungs. I was falling to my death, it was warranted. I couldn't even see, I was just spinning out of control.

Steven was probably scared, too, but he didn't show it. He maneuvered himself in the air over to me and grabbed both of my hands, stopping my spinning. We had, what, maybe 45 seconds until we hit the ground? I looked around there had to be something we could do. But then I realized, there was nothing. We had nothing.

"Connie, listen to me. We can get out of this."

I released some anger I didn't know I had. "With what? Pearl can't save us. Do you have a deus ex machina on you, by chance?"

"No, but I'm sure we can think of something."

"Like what? We can't have more than 30 seconds until impact and no one's here to save us." I wiped a tear from my eye. Then I smiled a little. "Wow. We survived all that. A sand worm, a monkey with an impregnable defense, at least most of the way killed it, and going to the bathroom. Yet we die to a potshot in a monkey's dying breath. All the mysteries and we'll die before they matter to us."

"Come on Connie, focus. There has to be something we can do."

I swore time had slowed down. We'd talked for a good minute now and we weren't even halfway to the ground. Maybe it was just time seeming to go slower in a near death scenario, or maybe it was literal. Steven did have gem powers we still didn't know about. Whatever the case, we had a bit of time. "Huh, it looks like I was wrong. It'll be a while yet before we reach the ground and die."

"Connie, come on. It isn't like you to give up like this."

"You've only known me for a day, you don't know me. You see, I don't give up unless there's no way out. But look around us, Steven. There is no way out. With the worm, we had a bracelet and a collapsing dock. For the monkey, we had our swords and a magical bond. Well, we dropped our swords and our bond is worthless. We have nothing."

Steven looked at me for a few seconds. Just as I thought he had no defense and I was ready to just start crying, he said, "You're wrong, Connie."

"I'm wrong, huh? Then tell me, what do we have? What magical item is going to save our lives?"

Steven looked me in the eye, and said in the world's most serious voice, "We have each other."

I both blushed and chuckled at that. "Oh my god, that is so corny. Only you could say that as we're falling to our deaths."

"So, is Connie back with me, not the strange mopey girl in her body a minute ago?"

"Yeah, I'm with you. Sorry about that. You're right, now's not the time to give up. So what's the plan?"

"Um… about that. I didn't exactly say I had one…"

"Oh, of course you didn't. You've already said you don't have a plan. I'm saying we need to make one. Any ideas?"

"Um, not really?"

"Great, it falls to me, now. You know the worst part about you not having a plan?"

Steven seemed really confused. "Wh-what?"

"I can't even get mad at you. You're Steven, no one could get angry."

Steven laughed at that. Everything seems funnier when you're about to die. "So, what now?"

"I don't know. Would the bubble, if you could form it, protect us from fall damage?"

"I doubt it. Remember the ocean floor? That hurt, bad. I doubt it would protect us."

"So, any other plans? Come on, no point in cheering me up if we aren't going to save ourselves."

"I…" Steven looked away. "I don't know. I guess, if we die here, I didn't want you to be in a foul mood when it happened. I didn't want my last memory to be a bad one. It's selfish. I'm sorry, I know as well as you do that there's no way out of this. I just made you cheer up for nothing."

I thought over his words. "It's okay. I guess I don't want my last thought to be of you in a bad mood, either. Cheer up, I'm not mad at you. I can't be mad if you're here."

A mischievous look crossed Steven's face. "You'd better rethink your words. If I were anyone else, I'd think you were _falling_ for me." We both laughed at that a little more than we should've.

"Oh my god, that was horrible. Look at us, we're about to die, and we're smiling and cracking jokes." I looked down. The ground didn't seem to get any closer since I last checked around 5 minutes ago. "You know, we're barely even falling. It's like time has stopped, just for us."

"Maybe that's our fate. It wasn't enough to be chained together, but now we have to fall for all eternity, forever isolated from the outside world."

"Maybe."

We fell for a bit in silence, just taking in the summer breeze coming at us from below. I looked down, and time seemed to have started again. Just as I pointed it out, probably. What are the odds. The ground was approaching again quickly. Oddly enough, I didn't panic. "It's kind of peaceful up here, isn't it?" I said.

Steven noticed the ground, too. But had the same reaction as me: acceptance. "Yeah, I guess it is."

We fell, circling each other like some sort of slow dance as we were about to die. The ground was maybe 10 seconds away. I closed my eyes and smiled. Steven and I said at the same time, "At least I got to meet you."

* * *

I kept my eyes closed for 10 seconds. Then another 10. But the impact never came. I opened my eyes, but it was… strange. For one, I was hovering in the air about a foot off the ground, but that wasn't the strangest part. I felt… different. My eyesight was so much sharper, like I didn't need my glasses anymore. For that matter, my glasses were gone altogether! And the rest of my clothes, what was I wearing? It looked like Steven's star shirt? I floated down to the ground. The grass seemed shorter. Or, did I seem just taller? I patted myself down, it was so weird. It was like I was in someone else's body altogether. My pat-down reached my chest, and I stopped. I felt something that wasn't there before. I looked down, and sure enough, a rose-colored gemstone was right there, sticking out of my chest.

"What happened?" I said. Aloud, it was fine, but in my head, there was something like an echo to my own voice at the same time as I spoke.

"I need a mirror." I said, with the same echo effect in my head.

I stumbled upwards and over to a nearby pond. I saw my reflection and I didn't see myself staring back. There was someone that sort of resembled a grown-up version of myself staring back at me, but wearing some mixture of what I had been wearing and Steven's clothes. Some words escaped my mouth that I didn't say. "I'm a girl?"

Startled, I said, "Why did I say that?"

"Who's there?" The words came out of my lips again, and in my head as well. And this time, I kind of recognized it.

"Wait. Steven? Is that you?"

"Connie? Are you in here?"

"What the heck is going on?" We said at the same time. Now that I think about it, it would be weird if someone was listening in to this. Just some girl talking to herself.

"Do you have any idea what this is?" I asked Steven.

"I was hoping you would."

"Look, we need to wait till Pearl finds us. I'm sure she'll come looking, and don't they always say to stay still in an emergency?" I said.

"Yeah. Stay put."

I looked over… our? Would it be our new body? Whatever. It felt okay. I wasn't restricted by an invisible chain, that was a plus. Really, looking myself over, it felt pretty good. Steven, I felt, had the same reactions. It was kind of weird. I couldn't exactly read his thoughts, more like just his emotions? It was an indescribable experience.

I shook my head. "This is unreal." I said.

"You said it. What is this?"

"Probably connected to our infinity link."

"I hope we aren't stuck like this."

"With our luck, we probably are."

"Honestly, there's some logic to that." I said. But as I said it, I realized that I wasn't okay with this. I'm not sure where it came from, I'm not sure why this of all things crossed a line, but I felt a rush of uncertainty.

Steven noticed through the link. "Connie, are you okay?"

I looked around. "Come on, where's Pearl? PEARL!"

"Give her time. I'm sure she's coming. It'll just take her a bit of time to get down here."

"I hope so. She needs to fix this. How long will it take? I can't fend for myself. What if she thinks we're dead and doesn't come at all?"

"Come on, Pearl would never think that. Now you're just being ridiculous."

"Yeah, but I'm sure she's beating us up about this, hard. What if she doesn't want to come down and face us?"

"Don't be so hard on Pearl. She gives it her best shot. Are you still mad about earlier?"

"Yes… No… I don't know! Maybe subconsciously? I'm just sick of all this magic stuff screwing us over every time things are starting to make sense!" There. I think that's the reason why I was freaking out.

With that, there was a flash of white light, and the two of us split apart. There was just Steven and Connie again, not some weird cross between us.

I smiled lightly, and it turned into a grin. I hugged Steven. "Finally!" I yelled.

Steven blinked a few times. "What?"

"It wasn't permanent! Don't you see what this means? We don't have another thing to worry about! Maybe another question, but for once a change happened that isn't going to last us the rest of our lives. Oh, and did you perhaps notice that we're alive? And did we just float? That's also a pretty big deal. Oh my god, I'm so happy!"

"Wow. Um, mood swing, much?"

Before I could respond, I heard a voice call, "Steven! Connie? Are you two there?"

"Yes, we're here!" we called simultaneously. We looked at each other and giggled.

"Still talking at the same time, huh? Maybe we are still one person and this is just in our head," I said.

"Nah, I think we'd notice that," He said.

Pearl came out from behind a hill. Seeing us, she grinned from ear to ear. Words came forth so fast it was a bit difficult to understand her. "Oh my god I was so worried! How are you two even alive? Oh, I shouldn't worry about that. You made it. I am so sorry! That monster was meant to be just a test of your abilities. It has a near-impenetrable defense, so it was supposed to just let me see your abilities in terms of working together, seeing your fighting stances. I didn't expect you to break through! And I sure didn't expect it to ever fight back. It didn't when we fought it, anyways. And when it launched you off, I totally should have seen that coming and I didn't. I've just been screwing everything up today. Can you forgive me?"

"Pearl, Pearl, it's fine! Calm down! We forgive you." Steven and I said, again at the same time.

"But I-" Pearl paused. "Did you two just say that at the same time?"

"Yeah. It's probably a side effect of the thing that just happened." We said. You know, it occurred to me that we're being more in sync _after_ we separated. Kind of funny.

"…Right. I don't suppose you could tell me what just happened?

"It might be hard. Even we don't really get what just happened," we said.

"Could you stop that? It's kind of freaking me out."

We both cocked our heads. "Hmm…" we said. Then I booped him on the nose.

"Hey!" he said.

"There, we're out of sync," I said.

Pearl stared at us for a few seconds. "You know what, I have better things to worry about."

"So, should we explain?" I asked.

"Sure, why not. Don't think it could get any weirder."

I struck a dramatic pose. "There we were, falling from the sky," I said. "We were oddly content about it. Long story. Anyways, as we were about to hit the ground, there was a bright light!"

Steven picked up the reins. "When we woke up, it was super weird. We were floating 5 feet off of the ground! Oh, yeah, and we were in the same body! It was like a combination between her body and my own. Oh my god, it was so bizzare! We were fine at first, but Connie started panicking after a while and we separated. That's just about all there is to it."

I finished it off. "I don't know about Steven, but I don't know what happened. Probably some other weird ability having to do with the infinity bond. I'm just relieved I don't have to share a body for the rest of my life."

Pearl, however, was a bit flabbergasted. "You- you fused?"

Steven and I exchanged a look. "Fused?" he said.

Pearl seemed not to hear him. "That should be impossible! She's a human, humans can't fuse. Could it be because of the bond between you two? Or maybe it's because of Steven's human half…"

"Could you please tell us what's going on?" I said.

"Look, we didn't want to tell you two until you were ready. Well, Steven, at least, Connie just got here, of course. Maybe I'm not the best one to tell you this… In order to talk about this, we need Garnet's help." Pearl paused. "Oh, and Amethyst might be there as well."

"Can't you tell us now?" I said

"Really, this is something I'm not exactly an expert in. I would probably give a bias interpretation that doesn't help in the least. We need the other gems. Let's go back to the temple, we'll talk there.

"Okay, just one problem," Steven said. "Where's the nearest warp pad?"

"It's up there, of course." We gave her a second. "Oh, I see your point…"

* * *

Once we returned, the three gems had very different reactions. Garnet was the happiest I think I had ever seen her. She was literally grinning wider than I thought was possible. Pearl was still quite uneasy. Amethyst, she was completely indifferent to the whole thing.  
Garnet tried to keep herself together. "You're telling me, that as you were falling to your death, you, without knowing what gem fusion was in the first place and no intention to do so, managed to accidentally fuse with each other?"

"Um, yes ma'am," I said. "That's what we just told you. Now could someone tell me what gem fusion even is?"

Pearl started to explain, but Garnet interrupted. "Gem fusion is when two gems' essences, or I guess a half gem and a humans' essences, become so completely in sync that the two beings become one. It's usually preformed via a dance, but if it's in a unique enough situation, it could happen just about anywhere."

"So, any one of you could fuse together right now?" Steven said, hopeful.

Again, Garnet interrupted Pearl. "Technically, yes, but it's not always a good idea. I'm totally for fusion, but it should be safe."

I said, "When you say it that way, it sort of reminds me of… you know…"

"No, it's nothing like that. How should I put this… when you fuse, you become a combination of the best traits of the both of you. But it can get addicting. If you aren't ready for it, the fusion might take over."

A bit panicked, I said, "We could have been trapped like that?"

"No, no. If you don't want to be a fusion, you won't be."

Pearl finally saw an opportunity to step in. "What Garnet is trying to say is, Fusion is a fine choice to make, but make sure to not to let it control you. I just want to know how you two were able to fuse at all."

I was about to say something, but a yawn of mine cut me off. I looked at the clock. It had taken us a long time to get back up to the colosseum, hadn't it?

Pearl noticed this. "You know what, I'm sorry. I know this is exiting and all, new powers, new questions, but maybe we should be getting some sleep."

"Hey, weren't you be the one badgering them with questions?" Amethyst said.

"Look, I at least occasionally think of other people. These two have had a rough day, and they need their sleep. Whatever questions I might have, they can wait until tomorrow." Pearl said.

"Chill, P! I agree with you." Amethyst said.

Garnet nodded, calmed down a little bit. "Yes. Even if this is exiting, Sleep takes precedent. We shall continue this conversation in the morning."

And with that, our day ended abruptly. A lot happened today. Mom and dad were brought up to speed, I was left with the gems, we stopped time for a few minutes, we fused, and we ended with more questions then we started with, which is becoming very standard at this point. I don't know what's coming next. Could things might finally calm down for a bit? I'm not holding my breath. With the gems, things don't seem to ever die down for good. In that case, a more fitting question might be, I wonder what startling revelations will come tomorrow?

 _A/N: Sorry for all the mushy stuff. I write a chapter expecting it to be action-packed training, then it always turns into the feels. Unless you like the mushy stuff, then I have no reason to apologize. Again, feedback is always appreciated, like and follow if you want to see more, and look forward to the next one, whenever it comes out. Probably tomorrow, and if not then, then the day after._

 _Oh, and to whichever guest reviewer that said we wouldn't be seeing Stevonnie for a while, you were sorely mistaken. To Wolfsprit as well, happened sooner than you thought it would, right? No reason to wait until alone together, right? This is_ _my_ _cannon, so unlike some fics, things are gonna diverge quite a bit from the show. If it stayed the same as the show, why bother reading it at all? That's my philosophy, anyways._

 _Adm: I meant to post this yesterday, but fanfiction was being weird and kept giving me an error message. Better late then never, I suppose._


	4. Asking Obvious Questions

**Asking Obvious Questions**

I woke up. Sunlight streamed through the window. I looked at the clock, it was 8:00. Steven was still asleep, and I didn't want to wake him. But I couldn't exactly get up without that. _Note to self: bring a book to bed tomorrow._ I thought over the last few days. I looked over to Steven. And before I knew what was happening, I started to sing.

 _What if I never met you,_

 _What if I never dropped that band?_

 _What if- this symbol_

 _What if it never appeared on my hand?_

* * *

 _Today, I'd be sitting at home,_

 _I would have no danger to my life._

 _I'd be another average kid,_

 _I_ _could cut off contact like butter and a hot knife_

* * *

 _If I could, would I cut this bond_

 _Would I?_

 _That's a question._

 _If I could would I just go back?_

 _Would I?_

 _I don't know._

 _S_ _ometimes I wish all this didn't happen,_

 _Really._

 _That's my connfesion._

 _But I'm here now,_

 _no what-ifs,_

 _Nowhere to go._

* * *

(Not sung) You know, maybe that's okay.

(Tempo picks up)

* * *

 _My name is Constance, Connie for short_

 _And I'm just fine with the current sit-uation._

 _Maybe my doubts are valid,_

 _But I really doubt it,_

 _Oh no! I'm trapped in permanent vacation._

* * *

 _If not for this, I'd be sitting at school,_

 _Not even one friend, being bullied like, a tool._

 _Why would, I question, whether I, am happy,_

No reason, for me to, get emotional and sappy

* * *

 _I_ _'m here! And that's okay._

 _Even if these mood swings won't go away._

* * *

 _I'm here! I've danced with death!_

 _It was more peaceful then I thought, like a deep deep breath._

* * *

 _And I'm here!_

* * *

 _I'm here._

* * *

 _(Tempo slows)_

 _My name is Constance, Connie for short._

 _And maybe this isn't perfect,_

 _Maybe things could be better,_

 _But I'm fine._

* * *

After a few seconds of silence, Steven said, "Connie, that was… beautiful."

My eyes darted towards him. "Oh! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to wake you."

"I don't care. I'm fine with waking up to that."

I blushed. "That was nothing, really. Just something off the top of my head."

"That can't be true. That was way too beautiful for that to be true. You had to have rehearsed that."

"Look, can we not talk about this? It's kind of embarrassing me."

"But it shouldn't be embarrassing you. What's so bad about having a pretty voice?"

"You couldn't understand. You're outgoing, and, well, you're you, and I'm me. Look, to be honest, if I could, I'd be walking away right now so I don't have to answer these questions, but that isn't exactly an option. That's easily the worst part of all of this." I looked at my palm. The image seemed slightly clearer, but not enough to make out anything.

"You really don't want to talk, huh?"

"Talk? Yes. Talk about my voice? No."

Steven looked at me for a few seconds. "You know, I actually might understand."

"Steven, just let it go. I'm okay, really. I just don't want to talk about it."

"No, it's not that. I just noticed. Remember when we were fused together? We could feel each other's emotions so clearly. But… I can still feel that now."

I thought about that. I felt outwards to see if I could as well. After a few seconds, lo and behold, I felt a wave of… I don't even know. But I could feel what Steven was feeling, a little apologetic, determined, some joyous subtext, and an ocean of other emotions beyond that. It was overwhelming. I pulled myself out of it. "Woah. Has that always been there, or is that new?"

"I think it's been there since we got our infinity bond thingy."

I thought back. I didn't really note it in these entries, but I remembered several times that I got a whiff of emotions that weren't my own. Maybe that's the source of my weird mood swings I've been noticing? "We need to talk to the gems about this," I said.

Steven nodded. We both got out of bed and got ready and all that jazz. I couldn't stop thinking about the emotional link. _Was that the reason why my song changed direction halfway through? Can I even control my own emotions anymore?_ I was hoping Steven would forget about the song, but I had no such luck.

As I was brushing my teeth, Steven said, "I need to talk to you. Connie, I don't like this bond any more than you do, just saying that out front. But if I have it, there's no point in letting it go to waste. I know how you feel. You don't want to seem better than everybody else. Better yet, you don't want attention."

I spat out my toothpaste. "Steven, you don't get it. You want this to be instantly resolved and have us sing songs around a campfire. But I don't. Sure, I can sing, but that doesn't mean I want to. Call it stage fright, but I only sang to you because I thought no one was listening."

"We can talk about this…"

"Please Steven. For me, just let this one go."

Steven looked at me for a few seconds. "You're right. I guess it isn't really important. I just don't want that talent of yours to go to waste."

I smiled. "Thank you, Steven. For complimenting my singing and letting it go."

Steven smiled. "You're very welcome," he said

* * *

Pearl rubbed her face. "Can't the two of you go _one_ night, heck, one hour without having something like this come up?"

Steven and I looked at each other. "No, ma'am." Steven and I said simultaneously. We giggled a bit at that.

"Oh, don't start with this whole 'talking at the same time' thing again. One problem at a time, please. So, you're telling me that this link no longer affects you physically, but emotionally as well?"

"No, it's more like it always affected us emotionally and we just noticed." Steven said.

"It would explain how they were able to fuse to easily," said Garnet.

"Yes, but still… this whole situation gets more and more complicated as it goes along. I want to know what's happening so we can prepare."

Amethyst chimed in. "Come on, Pearl. There's nothing we can do. I know you ain't great at it, but you could at least _try_ to move with the flow."  
"That's not an option," Pearl said. "Look, Amethyst, if these changes and revelations are going to keep happening, we need to be ready for it. If these two are some sort of confined empaths, we should see exactly how it manifests. We need to know how deep it runs, we need to know if it was connected to how they seemed to freeze time yesterday, we need to know everything. That's the only way we might be able to fix this someday."

Amethyst was getting a bit frustrated. "I thought we were saying this was effectively forever? Look, I don't care how 'prepared' we are, we'll never be prepared for what happens next. Could we have possibly imagined these two would have fused yesterday? What about the reading emotions thing, could we have seen that coming? What do you hope to accomplish by studying them? So that _you_ can know them better? They should make their own decisions."

Pearl was taken aback. "Amethyst, now isn't the time to be arguing. Besides, we only said we were treating it like it was permanent for now. If I find something I can latch on to…"

"Yeah, but that's an if. Do you want to keep doing this every single time another new complication rises? How do you think they would feel about that?"

Steven was holding himself back. He wanted to step forwards, but for whatever reason, he didn't want to step in. Maybe he thought it wasn't his place? Either way, I had no such stopper, and when his emotions leached into me, I couldn't stop myself. "Aren't the two of you going to ask what we think? You're both just using us as pawns in your own arguments. Pearl, you're assuming we'd be okay with it without even asking. But you're even worse, Amethyst!" Steven held my hand. "You also just assumed what we thought without checking, and you even said it out loud! What if we were okay with staying together? You wouldn't know if you had just asked." I felt a tingle in my stomach and a flash of white, but I ignored it. My emotions amplified themselves. "Look, I hate to see the two of you fight. I really hate it, but I never have the strength to say anything. So if you're going to fight, find a better reason to. How about one of you end this and just ask whether we are okay with a few tests. It would be so easy. Come on, just ask."

We looked around, from Amethyst to Pearl. Neither of them said anything. They just looked shocked.

"Fine, I guess I'll ask. 'Hey, you two, are you okay with having a few tests done on you to try to figure out the source of all of this?' 'Sure, as long as they aren't too long.' There, problem solved. No argument. I am so sick of this," I said as we stormed out of the room.

As we walked out, I heard Amethyst say, "St- Conn-, Oh, just wait!"

Pearl said, "Stop!"

We slammed the door shut behind us.

It took us a good 15 seconds of walking down the boardwalk to notice Steven and I had been fused for the past 2 minutes or so.

I paused for a second, then kept walking. After we reached an area just outside of Funland, the local amusement park, I stopped. Finally, I said, "So who was that talking back there? I honestly don't know whose emotions I even have anymore."

Steven said, "I don't think it works that way. Didn't Garnet say to be a fusion we have to agree on stuff?"

"No, before then. I felt the strength of your want to yell at them, then I ended up voicing it. Because of _your_ thoughts, I yelled at them."

"Well, I know you're confused at that, but I just want to thank you. I've wanted to say something like that for a long time."

"No, I'm glad I said it. I just want my thoughts to be my own."

A voice came from behind us. "I might be able to help you with that."

I turned. Garnet was standing there, right behind me. "Garnet!" We said.

"Hello. You know, what do you want me to call you? It would be kind of awkward if I always just said 'you two,' wouldn't it?

"Hmm…" _A name, huh?_

I heard Steven's thoughts. I wasn't too surprised at the fact that I could do so. _Well, we're a fusion. How about a fusion between our two names? You're Connie, I'm Steven, so how about Conneven?_

 _I don't know… wouldn't Stevonnie work better?_

 _Yeah, you're probably right._ The whole conversation took maybe a second.

"Stevonnie." We said, with a strong inflection to it.

"Well, Stevonnie, I couldn't help but overhear you talking about how you were having trouble differentiating your own emotions. I think I might be able to help you with that."

Steven was ready to believe it on ear, but I was a bit confused. "How do you know how to help with that?"

Garnet thought for a long moment. "I… can't tell you that."

We were confused. "Why not?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you that, either."

"Is there anything you can tell us?" I said.

"Please, I know that it might seem suspicious, but I promise it will make sense in time. Do you trust me?"

"I trust you." Steven was speaking. "As long as you promise you'll tell us eventually."

Garnet let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you both. I promise, one day I'll be able to tell you. But for now, you two want to learn to keep your emotions separate, right?"

I wasn't quite ready to let it go, but Steven was eager. Because of the disconnect, the fusion started to weaken. _Connie, this isn't worth it,_ Steven told me. And I knew Garnet isn't evil. I took a deep breath and let it go.

"I'm ready," we said.

"Good. Now it might seem counterintuitive, but the first step in separating your emotions is to open yourselves up. Let the emotions flow."

Neither one of us were very happy with that. "But what if we don't come back?"

"Don't worry. You trust me enough to keep a few secrets, you should trust me enough to open up a little. I promise it'll be okay."

I wished Steven was here to give me a reassuring look of confidence. I know he was there, but really there. I was a bit touched to realize Steven was thinking the same thing about me. _Okay, Steven, here goes._ I said. Then, I don't exactly know what I did. I just opened my heart and hoped for the best.

A rush of emotions came into me. Steven's emotions, and without much warning. I hadn't expected it to be so easy! Steven's thoughts started leeching inwards. Soon, I couldn't tell my thoughts from his. "Start simple," Garnet said, but I barely heard her. It was too late. The swirl of thoughts and feelings going on inside my brain began to consume me… us? We stopped being able to tell each other's thoughts apart. Steven saw my entire life flash before his eyes. He saw my parents' overprotectiveness, he saw school, he saw all the bullying I've had to endure, but the positives as well, our trip to Alaska, and the first time I went to a convention dressed as Lisa. Everything. Meanwhile, I saw his growing up, learning who he was, all the mistakes he's made, all the triumphs he's had. We clutched our head and sank to the ground. It was too much. We should've diffused by now, but even though we were both feeling extreme enough emotions to instantly cut the bond at any other time, we both carried the exact same extreme emotions and therefore it just kept us closer together. I felt trapped. Was I the one in the red shirt there? Haven't I always had this gemstone in my chest? No, aren't I the one carrying the book around? The one with the darker skin? I… I…

Then, the swirl of emotions stopped. I was still Connie. I remembered that now. But I understood Steven so much more. And in a way, I was Steven as well. I felt his feelings towards all the gems, I felt him feeling all my emotions as well. It was so strange. We weren't two people, but we weren't really one person, either.

"St-Stevonnie?" Garnet said.

I unfurled my limbs and smiled. "I'm okay. I didn't expect that." Suddenly I was no longer fighting with Steven for control. We seemed to agree on everything.

"I- I didn't see that coming. What just happened?" Garnet seemed baffled.

"Of course you didn't. When you learned it, it probably went a lot smoother. It didn't exactly go that way for me. But I'm okay. We're okay."

"You're totally different than what you were like just a few minutes ago."

"Really? How so?"

"Earlier, it was like the two of you were, I don't know, fighting for control? It was more like you were sharing your body than a real fusion. Now you're more like a traditional fusion, your own personality and everything. I've never seen anything like it in my life…"

"Well, that's nothing new, is it? Isn't our whole situation nothing like you've ever seen before?" I said.

"Yes, but- let's just say it's complicated."

I decided to not pursue that line of thinking. If she wanted to tell us, she would. "So, we've opened up to each other. What now? It would be kind of pointless if we didn't end up doing what we came here to do."

"It wasn't supposed to work like this. I meant open up to each other as in listen to each other's emotions, not meld your minds together!"

"Oh. Well, it's a bit late for that."

"I noticed."

I twiddled my thumbs. "We could diffuse if you want."

Garnet eyed me. "Only if you want to… I don't want to make you do something you don't want to do."

I thought about it. In this form, I felt so… amazing! I had all of Steven's kindness, as well as Connie's confidence. I had Steven's never-give-up attitude and Connie's fighting spirit. Could there even be a reason to split up? But as I thought about it, maybe the answer was yes. I remembered what the gems said yesterday through two sets of ears, two sets of emotional reactions. Fusion could get addicting. Even if it felt so good, I could fuse again at any time, right? And Connie really wanted to be separate before all of this, right? How could we do that if we stayed fused like this?

"I'm okay with splitting up. I can always fuse again if I want to, right? It's not like anyone could really stop me."

Garnet relaxed. "Thank goodness. You're making a good choice, Stevonnie."

"I just have… one problem. How exactly do I diffuse in the first place?"

Garnet shook her head. "Have you tried? I told you, fusion only lasts as long you want it to."

"Okay." I concentrated. I remembered the two halves of me: Connie and Steven. One, a happy goofball, not a mean bone in his body. Can find something good to say in just about any situation. Another, a girl who's just about the best thing ever but is unwilling to believe it. I knew we were starting to split up, because that sure isn't how I would describe myself. I felt a small pain as Steven's personality began to split from my own. Finally, the fusion destabilized, but it was slow. We were left simply standing next to each other, holding hands.

I looked Steven in the eye. "Wow. That was just… wow," I said.

"Yeah," he said. We stood for a while, looking each other in the eye.

I realized we were holding hands. "Oh, sorry." I said. I let go.

"No, it's okay. I liked it." He said. He grabbed my hand back.

I cleared my throat. "So, I guess we should see if there's still the problem of mixing thoughts and such."

"Yeah, right." He let go of my hand.

I looked around. "Hey, where'd Garnet go?"

The two of us looked around us, and sure enough, she had disappeared. "Who knows. Garnet's weird," Steven said.

"We can do it without her. So, could you, like, send over a thought wave, a strong one, and see if I can differentiate it or something?"

"That sounds like it wouldn't work too well. Isn't the problem when you couldn't see it coming?"

"Just try it, okay? I'm raring to see if it worked. I just have a gut feeling, you know? I don't think we'd be put through all of that just to have nothing come out of it. Besides that incredible feeling, of course."

"Fine, here we go."

I did feel a rush of Steven's emotion. But after seeing everything behind his motives, his entire heart, what used to be a confusing mess came off as almost music in my mind. I laughed. "Oh my god, a problem was solved after it was introduced into our lives. It's a miracle!"

"Didn't you say that about fusion?"

"Yeah, but that only lasted a few seconds, it doesn't count. This, it lasted a few hours! That's progress!"

"Sure Connie. Progress," he said, laughing.

"Does this mean my random mood swings will go away?" I said.

"Who knows. I sure don't. Again, with our luck, anything is possible."

"Let's go up to the temple. I'm sure Garnet's waiting back there. She'll be overjoyed to hear the good news!"

"Yeah. I'm glad Garnet was here. She helped a whole lot. She's the best."

"Well then we'd better thank her in person! I'll race you there!"

You'd think I would have learned from the last time I said that. Instead, I got about 3 feet out, then got a face full of wood. "You know, this hurt a lot less in the sand…"

* * *

We got back. Garnet had already filled the other two in on what had happened, so we just had to fill everyone in on the rest. Once that was all over with, though, Pearl and Amethyst felt it was necessary to apologize for arguing over us earlier. Honestly, I had sort of forgotten about all of that. And they didn't seem to think a simple apology would do…

"Connie, Steven, we're both really sorry. We didn't mean you to get so angry you would fuse over it." Pearl said.

"Look, it's fine…" I tried to say.

"No, really. We shouldn't have fought over you like that, it really was just an excuse to fight each other. Which is why… Pearl and I had an idea." Amethyst said.

Pearl nodded. "To show that we both really mean it, well… we'll show you."

I didn't bother interrupting again. I let them put on whatever display they felt like putting on. The two of them stood across from each other. They bowed. Then, out of nowhere, they started dancing. Pearl danced exactly like I thought she would, like a ballerina, nothing but grace and style. Amethyst kind of danced like I thought she would as well, no real style at all. Not that I ever expected Amethyst to ever dance.

I laughed. "What are you two doing?"

They didn't answer. As their dance finished, they moved closer and closer. Pearl spun into Amethyst, and the moment they touched, white light enveloped them. The second before it happened, I realized what was going on. A huge gem I had never seen before burst forth from the whiteness, and it smiled at us. "It seems that Pearl and Amethyst decided to call upon me, huh? It's not often they'd do such a thing in a non-combat situation."

Steven was hyperventilating. "Oh my god. This is so cool." I am so glad we learned to tell each other's emotions apart. If it were earlier, I would definitely be freaking out as well. But I could keep my own opinion of 'cool, but not get sick from hyperventilation cool' separate from his.

The gem smiled at the two of us. "All I wanted to say was, I'm sorry for putting you through all of that earlier. Although I'm not totally sure why we had to do all of this to get that far. Something like a 'show of faith' that they both really cared about you? Well, Amethyst really wants out now already, so I guess I must say toodles for now. But remember, if you ever need the best archer around, just call good 'ol Opal." With that, the two of them split apart, less gracefully than the two of us did.

I burst out laughing. "You know, I would have accepted your apology anyways. No need for this whole show.

Pearl blushed a little. "Oh? I thought it was relevant and everything, and it would really prove to you that we meant it."

"In the future, just fyi, I already know you two are good gems and you don't mean it when you say something mean." I glanced over at Steven and he was still hyperventilating. "Him, on the other hand…"

"Oh, he'll be fine." Amethyst said. I laughed at that, and Amethyst did as well.

Pearl was a bit confused. "I don't get it, what's so funny?"

* * *

After that, nothing much interesting happened. The short tests Pearl did, we didn't get much from, and we didn't have any time to train today. We did get to go the fair, though! The teacups ride was a real highlight for me. Normally it would be a super kiddy ride, but it was super cool in this case. Steven nearly threw up, but through some mental help through the infinity bond, he held on. There were a few adventures in trying to use a public restroom that I _definitely_ won't go over here. Then we went home and got to bed. I wish I had some huge cliffhanger to end this off with, but we're fine. The end of the day was actually pretty uneventful, and we got to bed at a decent hour, for once. All in all, a pretty decent day. So instead I jinx you with this: things seem to be on the up!

 _A/N: Sorry about all of the lines in the song, that was to only way I could get Fanfiction to recognize stanzas. I'm kinda new to Fanfiction, so I don't know how everything works yet._

 _Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed, or posted a review on this story. Next time: we visit the next cannon episode: Serious Steven. But you know me, it sure ain't going the same direction as in the show. Or is it? Honestly, I don't know, I'm just making this up as I go. I started this chapter by saying to myself, 'huh, Pearl and Amethyst argued a lot early on. I should have them argue,' and it turned into this. You don't know what's coming next, and neither do I. That's what makes it fun! See y'all tomorrow with that._


	5. Serious Duo

**Serious Duo**

It had been a good two weeks since we formed what we've been calling 'True Stevonnie' and got better control over our emotions. We haven't fused since then, though. No one really knows what might happen, if we're able The last two weeks haven't been perfect. How would you feel if your best friend suddenly knows every single embarrassing secret about you?

Overall, though, things have settled down a bit, much to Pearl's relief. We trained with her pretty much every day since then, unless something major like a monster attack came up. We haven't been battling at the colosseum, though. After the whole near death thing, we've been training in the temple instead. I was amazed at what it looked like the first time, but that's a story for another day. Pearl set up a simulation area for us to train in. Apparently, the temple can do that. We haven't been able to go on missions, not yet at least, to Steven's disappointment. As well as we've been doing fighting Pearl's holograms together, she really doesn't want us to do anything too dangerous yet. I'm pretty sure she doesn't want a repeat of the last time we fought a monster.

Today was another such day that they were going out on a mission, and we were being left behind. I was sitting with Steven, watching some old dog-copter movies with him, when the rest of the gems came out of the temple. "We're going to have to postpone training a bit, guys," Pearl said. "We need to go out."

"You found another monster in your scanners?" I said.

"Nah, this is way cooler than that," Amethyst said. "Garnet found this weird gem doohickey she said would unlock some upside-down pyramid in some old gem battlefield!"

"Amethyst…" Pearl said. She turned to Steven. "Remember when you first came here and we toured all of the places we're able to teleport to? The pyramid's located in the strawberry field with the swords all over it. We've been trying to open it for centuries now, but we've had no luck. We couldn't risk breaking into it, who knows what kind of ancient gem mechanisms we might've broke and traps we might've found! That, and it's practically indestructible. But while we were checking the wreckage of the sea spire, Garnet found an obsidian key that she said should be able to open it! For now, we're just going out to recover the core and come back. It shouldn't take more than an hour."

"Um, I don't mean to be rude," I said, "but we didn't really need all of those details, Pearl…"

Pearl blushed. "I-I thought the two of you would want all the information you could get. I guess maybe I did got a little carried away."

"Score one for Amethyst!" she said.

"Focus," Garnet said. "Just because we're not expecting trouble doesn't mean we should get cocky. Arguing will get us nowhere."

"She started it." Pearl and Amethyst said simultaneously.

I couldn't help but make a joke. "Hey, keep talking together and you might be stuck together by an infinity link! It is one of the symptoms."

Pearl laughed nervously while Amethyst laughed earnestly. Still, they each took a few steps away from each other.

Steven joined in. "Hey, you even laugh and move together! Maybe you should get that checked out, we wouldn't want another set of gems stuck together."

"I thought Steven was bad enough on his own," Pearl muttered, which just made Amethyst laugh harder.

"All right, time to go, you two. As Pearl said, if everything goes well, we'll be back soon." Garnet said.

"See you soon!" Steven yelled as the three of them grouped up on the teleporter and beamed away.

"You know," I said, "you'd think that after literally thousands of years of living together, they'd get along a bit better."

"Yeah…" Steven said.

* * *

They didn't come back after an hour, though. Not 2 hours or even 3. By the four hour mark, Steven was ready to panic. I tried to reassure him. "Come on, this can't be the first time a mission has gone on longer than they said it would."

"Yeah, but never this long. I'm worried about them."

"They're fine. Come on, what could possibly be so strong to endanger the crystal gems? They've lived for thousands of years, there's nothing they can't handle."

Right on cue, Steven's phone rang. He looked at the caller ID. "Garnet!" he said. "I didn't even know she had a phone!"

He picked it up. Garnet's voice sounded panicked, an emotion I didn't know she was capable of. "Steven! Thank goodness you picked up."

Pearl's voice barged onto the phone. "This pyramid, it's messing with our heads. We're trapped! The walls are nearly indestructible! Get help!"

I heard Amethyst screaming unintelligibly in the background. Garnet tried to get a handle on the situation. "Don't panic, you two. You just need to bring help. First, go to your room. I've hidden a warp whistle under your bed just in case a situation like this had come up. It should allow you to move anywhere you want without needing to have any magical abilities. Then, you need to-"

The call cut off abruptly. After that, we just stood there for a while, not sure what to do. Only after the situation sunk in did we begin to panic. Steven tried in vain to get a hold of the two of them again, calling again and again with no avail. I was just dumbfounded. What could possibly fell the crystal gems?

My shock didn't last long, though. As Steven continued to panic, I steeled myself. "Steven," I said, "They aren't dead or anything. They're fine. We heard all three of them. Their phone probably just lost its connection, or got destroyed. Now, we want to help them, right?"

"But what if-"

"What if nothing. If they're gone, they're gone. But if there's anything we can do, we should do it. We need to teleport in there and help however we can."

"B-but Pearl didn't think we were ready yet. Maybe we should get someone else to help…"

"And who would we get to help us? My parents? They sure wouldn't help. Look, if I wasn't here, you'd probably already be on this mission. I'm the one 'holding you back.' And do you think you could have gotten as far as you have in our training without me? We're strong enough and you know it."

"But what could we do?"

"How about anything? We get there and see what's wrong, and help where we can."

"Look, I- How are you so confident about this? We just found out the gems are gone! They could be in danger! How are you not panicking?"

"One of us has to keep a straight head on. If not, we'd just get into a negative feedback loop through our empathy bond. And I've told you, I don't give up unless there's nothing we can do, and we certainly aren't hopeless yet. So, are you with me or not?"

Steven nodded uncertainly. "O-okay. Let's do this."

We ran up to our room and grabbed the whistle. We've been getting better and better about working in tandem, so it went quickly. Together, we grabbed the whistle and ran over to the warp pad. Steven blew it and envisioned the fields, and I found myself floating in the endless void that was the warp zone. I'd warped a few times before, but it never got old. I didn't have time to think about how cool it was, though. We had gems to save!

The warp finally ended with us being dropped off at the fields of strawberries. I looked around, scanning for the pyramid… _there._ It kind of stuck out like a sore thumb, really. "There it is, come on Steven!"

We ran to the entrance. Fortunately, it was open; I have no idea what we would have done otherwise. I grasped Steven's hand and the two of us stepped inside. It seemed to be some sort of Tardis or something, because it was definitely bigger on the inside than the out. Normally I would check that, but we were a bit busy here. We walked into an ornate room, black walls all around. There was a picture of Rose Quarts facing off with the leader of another army as a centerpiece on the far wall. The gems were nowhere in sight.

"Come on, where are they?" I said. "They have to be here somewhere. Why would they be anywhere else?"

"They could have saved themselves?" Steven said.

"No, they would have called. I still have reception on my phone, I bet you do as well. There has to be something else we can do."

We both scanned the room. Steven's eyes were drawn to a small pyramid thing in the far corner. "Over there, Connie," he said, but as he was about to pointing that out, I saw something a bit more startling.

"Steven, there! On the wall! It's the same symbol on our palms!" Steven instantly directed his attention to the symbol.

It was an infinity sign, of course, but there was something more to it. It was totally clear, for one. Our own symbols haven't gotten any brighter since in the two weeks since they appeared. We're not sure if they were coming in slowly, or that was as bright as they were getting, but we hadn't gleaned any more information from them. But we thought this might show what it might end up looking like.

For one, the whole infinity part was made from what seemed to be chain. And the two vague blobs in the two holes in our symbols had been replaced with two colored gemstones. On top was a single figure in the middle that neither of us recognized. There was writing in some foreign language written everywhere.

Steven took a picture of it with his phone. "What is that thing? What's it doing here?" he said.

"I don't know." I really wanted answers, but… "But we can always come back and check it out later. For now, we need to find the gems. That's our top priority."

Steven nodded. They were more important than whatever bond we might have had. Following Steven's advice and due to it being the only other interesting thing in the room, we went over to the upside-down pyramid. "So what do we do with it?" I said.

"Hmm…" Steven poked it. The thing flipped itself upside down.

We paused for a second, nothing seemed to happen. "So what did that do?" I asked, only to immediately get my answer. The floor shook underneath us and I felt myself get lighter. I then felt myself get heavier again, but in the other direction. The thing had reversed gravity! We tumbled down… up? Whichever direction it was, it was into a chute in the ceiling. I grabbed onto Steven's hands so we wouldn't separate collide repeatedly on the way down. I felt a familiar feeling as we neared the hard floor at the bottom.

* * *

I found myself floating a few feet off the ground. Oh, how good it felt to be back! Oh, how good it felt to be Stevonnie! Why was I not always like this? But there was no time to rest on that. I needed to find the gems. I looked around me. I was in a huge round room, with doors splitting off in every direction. There were more intricate designs all over the walls.

"Pearl! Garnet! Amethyst?" I called out. And I did hear an answer.

"Stevonnie?" Garnet's voice called from one of the rooms off to the side.

"Garnet!" I yelled. I bolted over to the door her voice came from.

"Stay put Stevonnie. I'll be right there!" she yelled, but it was too late. I had already gone through the door in front of me which promptly slammed behind me, locking me in.

In front of me was a giant pit. The only way across was a bunch of small floating platforms with a variety of spikes, axes, and even lava spewers to avoid. I felt Steven start to panic and Connie wasn't so sure, either. I knew I wasn't nearly skilled enough to dodge all of that. There had to be another solution. _What if I can still float now?_ _But if I'm wrong it would mean certain death… No, it's all about emotion, right? If I believe I can do it, I can. Why do I feel so sick? Whatever. Ignore it. I can do this._

I stepped back. This was a large gap. But I would rather to this then avoid all the skewers. I took a few steps back, imagined myself flying through the air, and jumped. I soared through the air, just as imagined. Then, I think my Connie side showed. I found footing on the wall and ran along it, using my light gravity to let me stay up. I felt a little annoyance from my Steven side, he thought I was showing off. But he didn't mean it enough to make me break apart. Finally, I reached the other side, vaulted off the wall and landed on the platform. Easy peasy. I couldn't hear Garnet any more, though, and I knew that if she could still reach me I would hear her calling out. I didn't bother trying to yell for her considering that. I couldn't go back, so the only way to go was forwards.

I went through two more rooms, both of them presenting themselves as puzzles but really just seeming to just be their very own death traps. I mean, come on. Like, in one, I had to match 3 like those puzzle games you play, but when I did so, it just exploded! Either you kill me or you give me a puzzle, can't you make up your mind? But after the third room, I ended up… exactly where I started? I don't exactly that works, though. I went straight the whole time, didn't I? Oh well, it's gem technology, I'm sure there's some explanation. It's a tardis that can turn gravity upside-down, how is this any different? I scanned the room, and right on cue, the three gems popped out of one of the doors.

"Stevonnie! Why did you fuse together?" Garnet asked.

I looked up. "If I didn't, I would've hit the ground a bit hard…"

Pearl looked appalled. "Oh my god! If I had remembered that I never would've requested Garnet call you."

"Hey, it's okay. I'm not dead, right? Seems pretty okay to me."

"You know, maybe the two of you should unfuse for now. It's kind of… unsettling to see you like this…" Pearl said.

Before I could respond, though, Amethyst butted in. "Who cares? One person or two, we're still stuck here!" Amethyst said. "We're trapped here, if you hadn't noticed. I don't suppose you told anyone else about this that might be able to save us?"

"Um…" I said.

"Well, I'll take that as a no. We've been trapped here for so many hours. I've lost count. And now you're trapped here, too!"

"It's only been four hours…" I said.

"Look, I'm happy you're here, but I'd be happier if there was a way out of here! Every door just leads us back to the way we came. It's impossible! We didn't go through a single teleporter anywhere! The walls are indestructible. There's no way up the way we came. We've just checked every single room with immaculate detail and sure enough, there's no way out through any of those, either. Guess what? We're trapped. You two are just gonna die here while we rot away."

"Amethyst," Pearl said. "Be reasonable. I'm sure there's some way out…"

"Oh, don't you act all high and mighty. Before Steven and Connie got here, you were freaking out just as much as I am right now!"

"Yes, but-" Pearl said.

"If only Garnet could've finished her phone call. She could have told you to look for some way to help in _the main room._ Heck, she could've told you to get help other than you. But-"

I was having trouble keeping myself together. But without staying together, there was no way I could fix this. I needed Connie's confidence, I needed Steven's honest heart. I concentrated and yelled, "STOP! Please, stop fighting. Amythyst, please. I'm sure there's a solution here. There has to be. It's like the teacups, right? I thought there was no solution. I was ready to just bail the ride, but I showed me another way, right? Sometimes, it seems hopeless, but giving up is the worst thing you can do. I know everything seems hopeless, but please, don't give up. Giving up is never the answer."

"Yeah? Well, you haven't been trapped here for hours. And that was a horrible analogy. The teacups? Why did your mind go there? You were sick, then you weren't. Well, half of you, anyways. If you want to convince me, try staying here for another 4 hoiurs and see if you give up."  
I was about to dismiss it, but… "You know, why did my mind go there? That's actually a great question. Shouldn't I have thought of something else? Like when we were falling to our death or something? Why the teacups? Amethyst, you're a genius!"

"I-I am?"

"I just realized! I know why my brain went there. This is just like the teacups! If gem stuff can't teleport, there's only one explanation! The outside rooms must be spinning instead! We go through a room, the room spins, we go through another, it spins, and we end up where we started!"

The others stared at me. "Um, what?" I said.

"Well, that's great and all, Stevonnie, but it doesn't really help us…" Pearl said.

But just as she was saying that, the floor beneath us disintegrated. I slowed my descent with my weird floaty powers, and the other gems landed on a few rotating platforms nearby. I smiled, maybe a bit smugly. "You were saying, Pearl?"

Pearl didn't even respond. "This is incredible! There must be some sort of mechanism in place that tests to see if you've solved the riddle of the pyramid! Like, only the worthy deserve to pass? But how could that even work in the first place? And the spinning of the rooms, it's incredible. I can't believe I hadn't thought of it myself! Great thinking, Stevonnie."

I didn't really want the blame. "Aw, it was nothing. It was really all… huh. I can't exactly pass the blame off to my other half, can I? Normally Connie would blame Steven and Steven would blame Connie. Well, I guess it was me, then." Garnet chuckled at my confusion.

"Since you solved the riddle of the temple, it's only fair for you to be the one to grab the gem, Stevonnie." Garnet said.

"Aye aye, ma'am!" I said, saluting. Hey, I'm allowed to be a little goofy, right?

I floated over to the central pillar and saw a strange looking gem my Steven half recognized as the source of the pyramid. As I was pulling it out, I remembered the picture we saw on the way in. "You know, after I get this gem out of here, we need to check out the mural at the top of here. I saw something really cool up there!"

"…After?" Pearl said. I pulled the gem from its socket at that. The entire pyramid glowed white, and it all disappeared. All the traps, yes, but also the important stuff. The mural of the infinity sign with all the gem writing that I couldn't decipher. Whatever other clues I might have missed. All gone. And the shock of that, I split back into myself and Steven. It's always draining, leaving him like that. I'm so used to his strength. But it was fine, really. It was a lot less graceful than the other times. Intead of just coming out holding hands, we split off in opposite directions, only to rocket back towards each other when we reached our invisible limit.

"Ow," we both said.

Garnet helped us both up. "Easy, you two. Now, what's this about a mural?

"Oh… There was a mural up on the top floor, you might have missed it. It depicted the exact same shape as was on our palms, only so much clearer. I didn't realize this whole place would come down when we pulled out the jewel."

"I'm so sorry I missed it! Could you… maybe describe it? I might be able to draw some sort of representation of it, like those police artists," said Pearl.

"Wait! There's no need! I took a picture! I could show you." He brought up the picture and showed the gems. I took a deep breath. At least

Amethyst spoke up first. "A ruby and an emerald, huh? Wonder what it all means."

Next came Garnet. "This figure up here, it has two sets of arms! It's a fusion?" Looking closer, she was right.

The most perplexing, though, was Pearl. "This text, I haven't seen anything like it. It sure isn't ancient gem text. I can't understand it."

"Whoa, whoa," I said, "One thing at a time. So what is that pyramid, anyways? Why would it have that picture in the first place?"

The gems exchanged a look. "We… don't really know," Garnet said. "It's been there since before the war started. I was surprised to see the depiction of Rose Quarts in there, to be honest. We don't even know who made it in the first place."

"Hey Pearl, you said you wanted more mysteries?" Steven said.

"I never said that."

"Well, you got them anyways."

"Look, you…. You know what, no. You have every right to poke fun of me. You did great in there. Both of you. Together? Look, Stevonnie did great."

"Thank you," We said together.

"Maybe you are ready to go on missions. I'm not sure if Steven alone could have done that well. You learn really fast for a human, Connie."

"Thank you, ma'am."

"On the talk of you two, I'm going to try to work on deciphering the writings on the wall. If this temple is really this important, it might have some amazing secrets to it. If I could solve the writing… it just might reveal everything! Maybe even enough to separate you…"

I nodded solemnly. Maybe it might. Then, though, I thought of something. "Hey, Garnet, how'd you get a hold of a phone?"

Garnet shrugged. "Oh, I thought I might need it, so I took it from a purse I saw lying in a park."

Steven and I's mouths dropped. "Garnet! That's stealing!" Steven said.

She shrugged again. "It was just lying there. I was planning on returning it if I hadn't dropped it in a pit of lava."

"Garnet…" Steven and I muttered.

"Hey, your empathy link is showing! You're talking at the same time!" Amethyst said happily.

"Amethyst…" We said at the same time.

"Oh, yes. We're very in sync right now. Before long, you might as well fuse for good." Pearl said.

"Pearl!" We said. Then everyone laughed. It almost made me forget that Garnet had stolen someone's phone. Oh, what would I do without these guys?

 _A/N: Sorry if the last chapter didn't make it into your feed, I have no idea what happened. For some reason, the chapter got on the website, but it still thought I hadn't updated it that day. It was weird. Anyways, I wanted to say that yes, I know, there's no picture of any infinity bond in the upside-down pyramid. But you know what, my universe, I can make a few changes, fight me._

 _On the topic of Stevvonie, I honestly didn't expect them to be such an important thing in the story, but it just happened that way, I guess. See my previous_ author's _note: doing it as I go with like, 2 story beats planned. Next time: I'm thinking Steven's Lion. Maybe skipping to Lion 2. If we're gonna catch up to the show, we're gonna need to skip a few episodes._

 _Oh, and if you like, please review to say so! I've heard from a vary reliable source that positive reinforcement works wonders._


	6. And Now There's a Lion

… **And Now There's a Lion.**

It's been another few weeks. What's happened since my last entry? For one, I'm basically a full-on crystal gem at this point, so that's pretty sweet. Even Pearl's admitted that I'm growing faster than she thought possible, which I would have to be a liar to say I'm not proud of.

In other news, Stevonnie is officially a wrestler. I really do blame Amethyst here. She's a horrible influence to the two of us. I tried to be a good kid, following all the rules, but she made us become wrestlers, too. We simply didn't have any say in the matter! And the fact that it was with Stevonnie and not the two of us separately? I mean, I _may_ have wanted to wrestle a _little_ bit, but Steven did as well. We had no _choice_ but to form Stevonnie, we couldn't have fought otherwise. There was no three-person team option, and we couldn't fight against Amethyst.

Okay, maybe it was a _little_ bit my fault. But it still worked out okay, Pearl didn't make us stop going on missions with her or anything when she found out. Heck, it's been decent training for Stevonnie as well.

Mission wise, we've tried to remain separate, though. I don't really know what the big deal is, but I guess they want us to still have some sort of personal identity, considering Stevonnie isn't exactly a normal fusion.

There is a little bad news. Pearl's reached a dead end when it comes to the gem writing. Maybe if she had more writing to analyze, maybe if we still had the pyramid, to see more of the text, but there's simply not enough to get a clear alphabet out of it. Just another dead end. Maybe if we find a gem Rosetta's Stone or something…

Today, though, we were going on our first official mission together. We were going to a desert. Apparently, some sand castle was malfunctioning. Honestly, the fact that everything is going wrong now rather than thousands of years ago does feel a little convenient, but who knows. Maybe stuff goes wrong like this all the time, and we're in a comparatively boring period. Who knows how many gem things there are to look after!

We were going off to rescue something in a desert. Good thing I'd read up on a desert survival guide beforehand! Ever since I was sucked into all of this, I've read up on all sorts of stuff like that. The gems don't have to worry about hot and cold, but if I'm coming with, I need to be ready, too! I made sure to pack a lot of water, some nutrition bars, some rope, a compass, and so much more! I also packed a sword, because duh. And my violin, you never know when we might need an impromptu musical number! It could happen.

"You know, this is supposed to be a short mission. There really isn't a need for all this…"

"You're one to talk. Remember your cheeseburger backpack?"

"Hey! We already agreed that we wouldn't mention any of the mind reading!"

"Sorry, sorry. I couldn't resist."

"Are the two of you ready?" Pearl called from the main room.

I zipped up the backpack. "Yup! Well, I am at least."

"Yeah, me too," Steven said.

"Come on, then. We don't have much time to waste."

We hurried over to the teleporter. The other three gems were already waiting for us. "You ready, infinity duo?" Amethyst said.

"Yep!" I said. Steven just nodded his head confidently. The teleportation activated and we beamed off to the desert. I swear, that thing is so inconsistent. Sometimes it lasts, what, 2 seconds? And sometimes it lasts more like 30! Today was one of the 2 second variants. Just as soon as it had started, it was already over.

There was nothing to describe the area with but 'desert.' Sand everywhere, incredibly hot. I didn't get time to appreciate it, though, because a pillar of sand sprouted out of a random wall and sent the 5 of us flying. The gems landed well, I gues 5,000 years of training does that. We, on the other hand, didn't. We weren't seriously injured, but it was still hurt.

"It's worse than I thought. Walls leading to nowhere, pillars supporting nothing! We need to get that pillow." Pearl said.

"Where is it?" Steven said.

"It's going to be in the center of the storm. There isn't that much activity here, but the closer we get, the more it'll defend itself," said Garnet.

"Defend? Why would it do that?" I said.

"It's going haywire. It was designed to make a fort to defend itself from enemy threats. Now that there are no troops to defend, it's just defending itself." Pearl said.

"Wow…" I said.

We hiked through the sand. The closer we got to the central castle, the more pillars and walls formed. At first, they seemed random, but the closer we got, they seemed to be actively attacking us. There was also a sandstorm that kept getting worse as we got closer. We stopped talking and started focusing more on the mission.

We all heard a rumble from right underneath us. The other gems jumped to the side, but Steven and I again tried to go in opposite directions. Will we ever learn? Of course, the bond stopped us and we went nowhere. This time there was less crashing into a pillar and more riding a pillar into the sky. "Steven!" Pearl yelled before she was droned out by the storm.

I looked down. I could see the outlines that were the gems were trying to help, but they were distracted by their own problems, the pillars of sand. The pillar under us shook, about to collapse. I grabbed Steven's hand and we jumped to the next pillar over. "You're lucky I have such fast reaction times," I said.

We jumped from pillar to pillar as the ones underneath us kept collapsing. We reached a pillar that remained stable for a while. "M-maybe we should fuse?" Steven said.

"No. We need to prove we can at least occasionally win without relying on Stevonnie. Come on, we can do this."

Steven nodded. "Yeah, you're right. We're competent together without being together!... Wait, that came out wrong."

I laughed at that, but not for long. A wall smashed into the pillar from the side, causeing it to fall like a giant domino. I was about to jump, but Steven said, "Stop! I have an idea."

The pillar kept falling, but I trusted Steven to have a plan. I realized what he was trying to do. As the pillar fell, it went closer and closer to the sand fortress (Castle seemed too happy to be accurate). We readied ourselves and jumped! As we soared closer, though, I worked out the angles and realized we were falling short. The spikes surrounding the castle didn't seem like good things to fall into. As we reached the wall, I pulled my sword from its holster and thrust it into the sandstone, using it as a grip to stop our fall. Steven was surprisingly light, so I was just barely able to hold on for both of us. We climbed up the last 2 feet or so just as the gems arrived. Pearl was a bit shocked, for what I think was a decent reason. "You-you're okay! And you made it here all on your own, without fusing or any help? I'm impressed."

"Go, team infinite!" Amethyst said.

"No, please-" I said.

But before we could argue whether it was a big feat or not, the castle built a wall separating us into two groups again. One big problem, though: Steven and I were on opposite sides of the wall. On my side, Garnet pounded on the wall, while I assumed Pearl and Amethyst hammered away at the other side. Soon, though, Garnet realized the wall wasn't budging. The sand was getting stronger and stronger the closer we got to the center. "Stay there. The only way you're getting out of this is to get the pillow," she said as she ran up a nearby staircase, going for the top of the structure.

There I was, left alone. I felt a jerk backwards into the wall behind me. What could Steven be doing that would make him jerk back? Was he in danger? Even though I had a sword, it couldn't cut through, and the wall seemed soundproof. I called out to him, no response. The temple seemed to think I wasn't a threat anymore, and didn't attack me. But it wasn't fun just sitting there. I wanted to help, not just be a damsel in distress! But there wasn't much I could do about it. Sometimes I hated this bond.

I heard a voice in my head. _I wish I could be more help…_ It sounded exactly like it did the first time we fused. It was Steven's voice.

 _Steven?_ I asked. But he didn't seem to hear me. I kept trying to reach out, but no matter how hard I tried, it didn't work. No other thoughts came my way like that. _Maybe it was just nothing? Or maybe it's just another in a line of questions…_ I slumped down. All I could do was wait.

I heard a nearby roar. I bolted to my feet and drew my sword. "Who's there?" I said.

A lion slowly strolled into the room I was in. It had a slight case of being pink and having glowing eyes, but I didn't really care about that at that point. I had nowhere to run, so I drew my sword. "G-get back!" I said. It didn't seem phased. It kept walking closer. I swung my sword at it. It effortlessly evaded it and kept walking closer.

"Steven!" I called out, even if he couldn't hear me. I wasn't ready, not after only 4 weeks of training. I couldn't maneuver, I couldn't run, I couldn't even fight apparently. The lion reared back, then roared. And the wall behind me collapsed. _Was that intentional?_

Steven turned around sharply. "Connie? Are you okay?" he looked around. "LION!"

I ran up to him and stood by his side. He drew his sword and we prepared for a fight. Then, the lion yawned and sat down. I was still on edge, but Steven warmed up to it quite quickly. "Aww, It's like a big kitten."

I sighed. "Only you, Steven…" I had to admit, it _was_ pretty cute when it wasn't trying to kill me.

With that, the castle shook and collapsed. Good thing there was sand below us to break our fall.

The three of the gems walked up to us. Amethyst was holding the pillow causing this whole mess. "You okay, guys?" she said.

Before we could answer, though, Pearl noticed our guest. "Lion!" she said.

"No, it's okay! It set us free from our wall-y prison!" Steven said.

"It's a lion! How could it be okay? Step away from it!"

"No, it's fine." Garnet said. "It's not dangerous."

"Garnet…" Pearl said.

"Come on! You make our life seem lame! We leave you alone for five minutes and you've found a tamed lion." Amethyst said, ignoring Pearl.

"Can I keep it? Please?" Steven said.

"Steven, who knows where that thing's been. It might have an owner." Pearl said.

"Steven, do we need more complications in our life? I mean, yeah, it seems nice, but do we need a lion?" I said.

"Come on Connie, not even you're going to back me up? Fine…" He turned to the lion. "I'm going to miss you, lion." The lion seemed indifferent. It strolled away into the sand.

"You've made the right choice, Steven." Pearl said. She turned to Amethyst. "And will you bubble that pillow away already?"

* * *

Long story short, we didn't leave the lion behind. Well, we did, but it didn't leave us behind. It showed up at our doorstep. We tried getting it to go away (Well, I did), but it wouldn't leave. Then it saved us and helped us cover for one of Amethyst's mistakes. The pillow got dropped in the sand, long story, but with the help of Lion, we made it out okay.

We were talking with the gems after it all occurred. "Fine, you can keep him." Pearl said. "But you're going to have to take care of him, not me."

"Yay! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Steven said. " _I can't believe it."_

"Well, I can. Did you really expect her to say no?" The gems all looked at me strangely, Steven even more so. "What?"

"Oh, it was just a strange statement," Pearl said. "What did you mean, you can?"

"Well, Steven said that he couldn't believe it, right? I don't see what's so weird about saying that I could believe it."

The gems all looked at each other. "Hate to break it to you, but I think you didn't get enough sleep last night," Amethyst said.

Steven, though, had one last bombshell to drop. "Um, I didn't exactly say it… but I did _think_ it…"

Everybody stared at Steven. I covered my face. "Oh, yeah, I'd forgotten about that. So much happened, it slipped my mind. Yeah, earlier today, when we were trapped on opposite sides of the wall, I heard his voice somehow, like telepathy. Must be what's happening now."

"Oh! I heard your voice, too!"

"You did? I tried to talk to you, but you didn't respond."

"I didn't hear much. All I heard you say was you saying my name, right before the lion broke through the wall."

"Okay, okay, one thing at a time," Pearl said. "First off, what? What is it now?"

"Yeah, apparently we can hear each other's thoughts. I mean, are you honestly surprised? What's a little bit of telepathy to add to all of this?" I said.

"No…" Pearl said, but it was quiet enough no one paid it much attention.

"Yeah. Guess we need to work through this as well. Got any secret information about handling that, Garnet?" Steven said.

"No…" Pearl said.

"Let me get this straight. You can sometimes hear each other's thoughts? That's fricking awesome!" Amethyst said.

"No. No! NO!" Pearl said. "How are you all okay with this? Every time something new comes up that is completely and utterly impossible, the two of you just shrug it off. An invisible chain thing with no tangible weight to it whatsoever but is still there? Sure, that's fine. How about an empathy bond? And minds fusing together? Yep, that's normal. Fusion between a gem and a human? Yeah, nothing wrong here. And now this. Telepathy is impossible! Not without any outside equipment! Especially for a human! You have no magic in you at all. Unless you had some hidden gem in you, this is doubly impossible for you! Everything about this shouldn't be able to happen! How is all of this still happening? Why is all of this still happening?"

"Whoa, Pearl. We'll work through this, okay?" Amethyst said.

"No, it's not okay. Why have we suddenly stopped questioning all of this? I just want to understand. I… I just want to understand."

Pearl turned and ran back to the house. Garnet and Amethyst exchanged a look. It wasn't only me that thought this was out of nowhere. How long had she been holding all of this in?

While they did that, Steven grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the beach house. Pearl was nearing the door to the temple. It glowed, and she ran in. We tried to get in, but it locked just before we reached it, sealing us off.

"Pearl! Please! I want to help you!" Steven said. She couldn't hear us, though.

Steven's gem began to glow, the first time since I met him and he made the bubble. The door opened again to a room filled with pink mist. "What?" I said.

"It must be my room! Or more specifically, mom's room. There has to be a way to get to Pearl's room from here. Come on!"

Steven pulled us into the room. It was weird. I'd been in the temple before, but only in Pearl's simulations for training purposes. This was so different. It was just an endless field of pink mist, as far as the eye can see. "What is this place?" I said.

"Who cares! We need a way into Pearl's room." Just then, a door appeared in front of us, with Pearl's room written on top.

"And how did that appear?"

"Again, who cares! We need to be there for Pearl."

Steven pulled on my hand and we ran through the door. There it was, Pearl's room as we'd seen in it so many times before. Flowing, physics-defying waterfalls, and Pearl, standing right on top. She hadn't seen us yet. Something told me we shouldn't just burst in. We stayed hidden behind one of the other waterfalls. I'm glad we hid, because she started to sing then, something I'd never heard her do before.

* * *

 _They tell me that it's okay,_

 _To let these things happen and happen they will_

 _They say that the answers will come_

 _But even when they do what remains is the ill,_

* * *

 _Yes, I know, it's wrong, of me,_

 _To want you myself more than her,_

 _And they are growing up too fast,_

 _They're becoming like a lady and sir,_

* * *

 _Maybe I'm not mad it doesn't make sense_

 _Maybe I fear is that the bond will remain,_

 _I know we're treating it like it'll be, infinity_

 _But now I guess now I'm starting to feel the pain._

* * *

 _It all makes no sense, why Steven and not me?_

 _Why_ _not_ _me and Amethyst, and why with Connie?_

 _I don't want this, how are you still okay?_

 _Now I'm just left here,_

 _picking up the scraps,_

 _watching what was once a normal life start to decay…_

* * *

A violin pierced the air. My violin. I never took off my travel pack, and it was still in there. So I decided to put it to some use. Pearl turned sharply, but I ignored her. I was singing into a mirror, not to her. As I played the violin, I started to sing.

* * *

 _Pearl, I know you're uncertain_

 _You want to know the truth?_

 _The only reason I stay sane_

 _Is joking, you need any proof?_

* * *

 _You ain't sure, I live this situation_

 _You're not the one who has to deal._

 _Every day I find a new complication,_

 _But please, let me help you heal._

* * *

 _I suck at emotions, at social interactions,_

 _You're always there, to help._

 _But you're hurting, Pearl, so let me shine you up_

 _Let me clear off all the built-up kelp._

* * *

 _You're not replaceable, don't you forget it._

 _Even through all this, you kept all this in_

 _Just let it all out, I know we can take it._

 _Hiding your emotions was your greatest sin._

* * *

 _Pearl, oh Pearl,_

 _We need to go through this together,_

 _Pearl, oh Pearl,_

 _Be honest and gentle as a feather,_

* * *

 _Please just be honest to all of us,_

 _Be honest and give us trust_

 _He honest to us, but most of all,_

 _Be honest to yourself._

* * *

I stopped singing. "Pearl, please. I don't know what's wrong. I'm just twelve, for crying out loud! But I know it's not good to keep it in. Like Garnet said, you need to let out your emotions." I said.

"H-how did you get in here?"

"We went through Steven's room, that's not important. Pearl, please, I've been where you are right now. Angry things keep going wrong. Afraid. Confused."

"You know nothing. You'll always have Steven to talk to."

"So will you! You think that just because I'm tied to him he isn't still here? And even if you argue with her, Amethyst will always be there! And Garnet, even if she isn't too talkative, she's got some great philosophical advice. You have people to talk to! So please, I've learned a long time ago that running away is never the answer."

"But I-"

"Pearl, please. No more deflection. You're our Pearl, never forget that."

We waited with baited breath. Finally, Pearl spoke. "You have a beautiful singing voice, Connie."

Where did that come from? I looked at the ground. "Um… thanks. You… too?"

"You're right. Why are you always right? You're confident, you're happy, and you learn faster than I ever could teach. You even sing beautifully. How do I compete with that?"

"C-compete?"

"Connie, you want me to tell you the truth? I envy you. I'm always breaking down and making mistakes, the ones you never seem to make. I'm holding grudges deep down within me and you get me to talk about them within a minute. You're perfect."

"What? I'm not perfect! I've made so many mistakes since I got here! The only reason I stay so strong so often is that Steven's always here to cheer me up when I'm down, always here to talk to." I said.

"Don't make excuses," Pearl said. "Heck, you're even perfectly modest. What do I have? I can't even break your bond."

"Pearl, without you, we wouldn't have ever fused. You trusted us to do more than anyone else would. You made us fight against huge odds, just so we could grow stronger." I glanced at Steven. He seemed to know this was something just between the two of us and was letting us talk. Just me and Pearl.

"So what? No matter how good I am, you'll always be better."

"No, I won't! What is wrong with you? I'm flawed. You think it's a good thing that I just ran away from my parents without a second thought? A better kid would care about them more. You think it's a good thing I have stage fright? And that's just the petty stuff. You think I'm perfect dealing with all this new stuff coming in, you're wrong. When we fused, when our emotions were going haywire, I'm the one who panicked. If not for Steven I might've been in the same position you're in now. Steven's the one who kept me calm, I've kept him calm. The only reason I'm fine is because I've talked. The only thing I have over you is an impossibility to not talk it out. And the only reason I haven't buried my resentments is because I haven't lived for thousands of years! You think that a twelve-year-old has much to resent from a bunch of superheroes who let her join them? It would take a whole lot to make me resent you guys. So Pearl, shut up. I'm imperfect, so are you. Next time, just talk about it before it all blows over like this! Don't be stupid!"

"Look, just stop it, okay? Why can't I just be unhappy?" Pearl had a tear in her eye. With that, Steven ran over, dragging me along, and he hugged her.

I smiled. "Because I don't think Steven or I will let you."

"Oh, you two… you can't even let me have my misery," she said, but smiled anyways. She pulled me into the hug as well.

The moment was slightly ruined when Amethyst burst into the room from an opening nearby. "Oh my god, Pearl, are you okay? You don't have to blame-" She looked at the three of us hugging. "I'm… I'm gonna go now…" She left the room.

We let go of the hug. "So, you okay, Pearl?" I said.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Thanks, Connie."

"Don't mention it."

"I'm sorry for interrupting this with my feelings. We need to go over this mind reading thing. Now, I might not be the best for this, but I have a few ideas…"

* * *

From there, we tried to recreate the telepathy bond, but it was a dead-end. We couldn't even get us to read each other's thoughts! Oh, why are these powers so inconsistent? Steven suggested being near lion so to replicate the original conditions more closely, but the rest of us agreed that him being here was just happenstance.

You know, it's really chaotic being with the crystal gems all the time. Most days, it's just training (Which is still pretty cool), but when stuff happens, stuff _happens_ , man. We have a pet lion, now! Anyways, that's pretty much the end of what happened today. We kept the lion, Pearl let out her inner resentment, we got no new information, and we got to bed.

And yet, there was one last surprise waiting for us. When I looked at my palm tonight, the symbol there was a little sharper. Notably so. I couldn't make anything new out, but it got to a point that I could tell it was there at all without having to look at it too closely. I have no idea what caused it to improve, maybe the telepathy? Whatever the reason, if the symbol is any indication, whatever's happening just started happening again after a short hiatus. What happens next? I don't know. I have no idea what the end result of all of this is. Will we fuse permanently? Will our minds combine into one even when not fused? I don't know. All I can do is hope we get out of this okay…"

* * *

 _A/N: Should I apologize for the long wait? It's only been what, 3 days? Nah, that's still pretty fast updating. I skipped the majority of the episode because I don't want to retread old ground. Not enough would change with the Connie being there to write the whole thing. I'm sure you already know the original story, so if I've got nothing to add, there's no point in fully rewriting it, just with Connie there._

 _Next time, I'm thinking of doing a completely new story, not based off an episode at all. See you guys then!_


	7. In Which Things Go Wrong

**In Which Things Go Wrong**

Just another average mission, right? That's all this was. Just travel to the sky tower, get the heaven beetle, and come back. Well it isn't so simple anymore.

I should start from where we left off. Ever since we got our very own pet lion, it's been pretty chill. Our mind reading thing hasn't acted up again, so much so that we're kind of wondering if it'll ever come back. Three times in a day, then nothing? Strange. Maybe it only works under a full moon or some bullcrap. Garnet was addicted to video games for a while, but she snapped out of it. Long story. Oh, and did you know Garnet had three eyes? I sure didn't until then. More training, more adventures, you know the shtick. Then it all went wrong.

Let's start at the beginning of the mission, I guess. Garnet was out getting the earth beetle, which we couldn't exactly help her with. Yeah, it was at the bottom of a lake of lava. But we could still help Pearl and Amethyst! Unfortunately, the two of them were not happy being grouped together. It hasn't been as bad as it's been in the past, but it's not exactly sunshine and rainbows between the two of them, and it's been especially bad today. They don't really argue openly ever since it exploded a few months ago, but I still see it bubbling under the surface. They're really bad at hiding it, and today they're barely even trying to hide it at all. So Steven came up to me with a brilliant idea.

"We're all together on this mission, but Pearl and Amethyst are super angry at each other, right?" Steven said. "Here's my plan: we get them to form Opal when off on the mission! How could you get any closer than fusion?"

"I don't know. I can think of at least 5 ways off the top of my head on how that could backfire," I said.

"Come on. I even wrote a song about it! Are you going to help me, or what?"

"I suppose I could try. But I'm not singing."

"I knew you'd come around!" Steven said with a goofy grin on his face.

And so our journey began. And I think journey is a pretty accurate word here. It was less about beating a monster to a pulp than it was about just _reaching_ the heaven beetle. All the way, Steven kept pestering them to form Opal together. Neither one of them liked the idea. He even sang his song, titled 'Giant Woman,' where it was just a minute straight of singing about how much he would like them to fuse into the titular giant woman. It was a pretty catchy song, I'll admit. Though I'm not really sure what he meant by the line 'I know if it were me/ I'd really want to be/ A giant woman.' We've fused before, Steven. But I didn't interrupt the song to say that. It was still a catchy song, it'd be rude to interrupt. Pearl and Amethyst weren't getting any closer, though.

It started to go wrong when we reached the summit. The heaven beetle was supposed to be inside a cute little temple on the top of the spire, but it simply wasn't there. What was there, though, was a giant freaking bird! Bird is a loose term, of course, I prefer abomination. It looked like a gem monster, but it didn't seem to have a gem. It even ate Pearl's weapon! Since we couldn't seem to harm it, We all ducked inside the nearby temple to hide from it.

"What is that thing? It's doesn't even have a gem!" I said.

"Hey! This'd be a great time to form Opal again, guys!" Steven said. "What better way to beat it!"

"This isn't a good time for this whole thing, Steven." I said.

"No, this is the perfect time! There's no way we could take it out otherwise," Steven said, a bit too happy for someone saying we were potentially doomed.

"Steven's right. Much as it pains me to admit it, we might need to fuse, Amethyst."

"Pearl, can't we do this on our own?"

As if to prove our point, the giant bird burst into the celing, missing Steven and I by inches. The four of us sprinted downstairs to hide in a more fortified room. Pearl nodded. "Point taken. Fine, let's fuse this thing into oblivion."

The two of them walked to opposite ends of the room. They started dancing as we'd seen them do the last time. Pearl, a picture of elegance and grace. Amethyst, the exact opposite. But unlike last time, when it at least kind of worked, the two of them were just about as out of sync as they could be. It wasn't exactly surprising when they failed to fuse in the end, they weren't in sync at all. Of course, they both blamed each other, just as you'd expect. Before they could argue much, though, the bird rammed its beak into the room we were hiding in from a side window. We all dodged to the side.

"Really, guys?" I said. "You've lived for thousands of years, how is this so hard? Fine, I guess we have to take it out the old-fashioned way. The next time it pokes its beak in, attack it for all we've got, okay?"

A bit shell-shocked they were being lectured by a 12-year-old, the two of them nodded in agreement. The bird rammed its head into another opening, and we all rushed it. I stabbed and slashed with my sword, Steven did the same at my side. We didn't have enough time to do much damage, because the bird pulled its head out of the building too quickly. It gave Steven an idea, though.

"Guys, this is just like that one video game, Silhouette of the Titan! There's this one part, where there's this one Titan-"

"Cut to the chase!" I said.

"We should collapse the passageway on it and trap it in place! Once it's there, it'll have no escape while we pound it into oblivion!"

"Got it," Pearl and Amethyst said simultaneously. They looked at each other.

"No, I've got it. You already screwed up!" Pearl said.

"I screwed it up? Playing the blame game, are we?" Amethyst said. The argument continued.

Steven and I glanced at each other with a look of disbelief. If they were going to argue like this and not get it done, we might as well do it ourselves, we thought. The bird poked its head in another hole, aiming for the two gems. They narrowly avoided its talons. Meanwhile, Steven and I did the same trick we used against the monkey. I ran back and Steven launched me at the archway above the bird and I took the impossibly sharp blade of my sword and sliced away the stone above it. My sword cut through the stone like a hot knife through butter. Various bits of the archway collapsed, pinning the bird in place. Steven, who had been pulled along with me, dropped on the bird and attacked it head on.

I turned to the gems. "You done fighting yet? Because while you lovebirds were arguing, we took care of it." It was a bit resentful, but we're not the ones with years of training under our belts. We really shouldn't be carrying them.

They both looked mightily embarrassed. "Right, yeah. Killing the bird." Pearl said. The two of them joined us in wailing away on it. The creature struggled to get away. It wasn't injured, though, none of our strikes seemed to be doing much damage. The exception was of my own sword, there's nothing that blade couldn't cut. Steven's was doing decently as well, but Pearl and Amethyst's weapons did next to nothing. In the chaos, the bird choked up what I learned to be the heaven beetle.

Amathyst grabbed it. "We found it! Hah! Take that, birdy!" she said.

The bird finally broke free from the rubble. We all backed up and prepared for another strike from it, but we didn't get it. It screeched and flew away.

"Aw, and just as we were getting into the groove," Amethyst said.

"Should we follow it?" I said.

"No," Pearl said. "It doesn't seem to have a gem on it, there'd be no point. We have what we came for, we might as well get going. You know what, I'm sorry our arguing got in the way of actually fighting."

"Speak for yourself. We beat it, didn't we? Who cares?"

Pearl turned to Amethyst, her patience just about finished. "Really, Amethyst? We won only because these two were here. What do you think would've happened otherwise? Yet you claim our arguing to be 'no big deal?' You are insufferable! This is all your fault, anyways."

"My fault? Even now, you refuse to take any blame whatsoever?" The fight continued.

Steven and I didn't know what to say, so we stayed quiet. Still, it sucked seeing them like this. I wished there was something more we could do.

So, we thought that was it. Maybe we'd go back to the temple and fulfill our heartfelt moment quota and help Pearl and Amethyst heal, maybe that would wait for another day. It seemed to be all over, though. We all stepped onto the warp pad. Before we could activate it, though, a screech rang through the area. I looked up and saw the bird, charging us again, ready for round two, apparently. It was pretty far away, but it was getting closer fairly quickly. Steven and I drew our swords, just in case.

"Will that thing ever give up?" Pearl said.

"Who cares?" I said. "It's nearly impenetrable. We need to warp away!"

"If Pearl's so confident, maybe she can do it," Amethyst said.

"Oh, really Amethyst? You're so lazy you're unwilling to even activate your teleporter yourself?"

"Oh, I can do it alright. But knowing you, I'd do it _wrong_ anyways. So what's the point?"

"Guys! It's getting really close!" Steven yelled.

Pearl relented. "Fine, I'll do it. But we're finishing this argument back at the temple." Pearl readied the warp.

But she was a half a second too late. The bird had arrived. She timed it just about as poorly as she could've. The warp pad began to activate, but the bird knocked me off the platform. I missed the warp. The white light enveloped the other three, but I was left behind. Pearl and Amethyst disappeared like normal, but Steven…

We had never tested just what would happen if one of us warped while the other didn't. It was deemed too dangerous to try. But that's exactly what had just happened. As Pearl and Amethyst's bodies disappeared into the light, Steven's seemed to flicker. I felt an intense pain flow throughout my body, so much that it caused my knees to buckle and me to fall to the floor. I saw the base of the warp pad crack a bit, then shatter violently. Steven's limp body fell onto the rubble that was once a warp pad, unconscious. My own pain subsided, I was still conscious, but I didn't have much time to think. The bird dived upwards and prepared for a second strike.

I used my sword as a crutch and slowly got to my feet. I remembered the time that I had tried to fight off the lion and failed miserably. I wasn't good at fighting alone, we never trained solo. I wasn't much without Steven, was I? And Steven was unconscious. I had nothing.

That didn't mean I wasn't going to fight, though. Because Steven needed me. He was unconscious. If I stopped fighting now, it wasn't only me who was dead. I was fighting for the both of us. I picked up my sword. It could cut its skin, so I had a chance. The thing dived at me. I waited until the last possible moment, then I ddged to the side. As the bird streaked past me, I thrust my sword into its side. The bird's screech in pain told me the shot rang true, but it wasn't anywhere close to being done fighting. It dived again. I again danced to the side and struck it with the point of my sword. This continued for a bit, it diving again and again, getting a little more damaged each and every time.

 _Doesn't this thing know the definition of insanity?_ I thought. _At least the one they always say online?_ Just as I was thinking that, though, I jinxed it. I stood in my combat stance, waiting for it to charge again. It was getting quite weak at this point, struggling to stay aloft. Another few hits would ground it. It circled slowly. I spun my body to always make sure I was facing it. It was taking its sweet time attacking this time, though.

Finally, it dived again. But it wasn't aiming for me. It was aiming for Steven. It might seem hard to know that at a glance, but I could tell it was going for him. Maybe it was my instincts? Maybe it was just another bond power? Either way, I knew I couldn't dodge out of the way anymore. If I did, I might not get a chance to attack again before it hit Steven. I took a stance in front of Steven. As it dived, I stood firm. If it wanted to hit him, it would have to go through me. I stood with a combat stance, both hands on my weapon. It reached my position and I brought my sword all the way back behind my head and swung with all my might.

The moment I did it, I knew it was a mistake. The bird was deflected off-course, but it took a heavy toll on me. The impact made my muscles ache. I was already not doing great in terms of stamina, and that took a lot out of me. It was already circling upwards for another strike. I didn't know what else to do except stand my ground. I couldn't move Steven out of the way, but I couldn't keep it up. I was dead if I kept doing it, and he was dead if I didn't. But maybe, if I held out a little longer…

The bird came down again, and I deflected it again, in much the same way. After that swing, I could barely stand. I couldn't keep this up for more than, say, one more swing? Help wasn't arriving, I knew that. What was I holding out for? There was no cover in sight. What could I do?

The bird came in for a third swing, and I acted on impulse. Steven's body was still lying at my feet. He had been carrying his sword, now lying by his side on the floor. A second before the bird hit, I grabbed that one with my left hand, crossed the two swords, and defended with a dual sword parry. I still felt the impact of the bird in my bones, but it was a little less taxing. I deflected it to the side and still had time to stab my other sword into the bird. It howled again, clearly not satisfied that I was learning how to beat it.

It tried something new. Instead of rising high and diving down, it swooped back quickly, giving me minimal time to react. But I was ready. I brought up my two swords and deflected its lessened attack. And because it had been going slower this time, I finally had time to do what I wanted. After I deflected its assault, it slowed nearly to a crawl, and with both of my swords, I fully penetrated its wing. It cawed more loudly than I had ever heard it do before and ran itself into the ground. It flapped its wings and tried to fly away, but with a hole in one of them, it couldn't do so anymore. I smiled. Finally, no more all-out assaults at terminal velocity. It was grounded. I leveled my swords and prepared for a final blow. The bird had cuts all over it. If it could bleed, it probably would be doing so. It was on its last legs. I gave it one last chance to limp away, but it didn't take it. Even if it couldn't fly, it still limped over on its broken claws and lunged at me. I took my two swords and drove them right into its heart, or wherever it's heart would be. The bird stopped in its tracks, screeched its final screech, and fell down, defeated.

I relaxed. The bird started to disintegrate into hundreds of little diamonds. It really wasn't like the other gem creatures, it didn't poof. I thought it was kind of weird, but it didn't seem that important at the time. Unfortunately, it had one last surprise in store for me. Each of the individual parts it disintegrated into started morphing into a new shape. "Oh no…" I said, not happy with what was coming. Before I knew it, each of the hundreds of parts the original collapsed into fully formed individual birds. They were like the original abomination, only bird-sized! It didn't make them any less creepy.

They flew up in a flock formation. I stared them down. I wasn't giving up at this point. "Bring it on," I said. The birds all charged me. I leveled both of my swords, I kept my stance wide, my body lowered. As the swarm reached me, I became a whirlwind of stabs, swipes, and spins. The entire cloud kept coming, but I refused to let a single one through. Every single swing I made connected with one of the monsters. One flew passed my ear, so I spun around, one sword hitting the one heading for Steven while the other kept on fighting the rest of the swarm. The dark cloud of the things became a fog, the fog became just a group of birds, and the group of birds made way to just one single one left. I paused for a second before I slashed down the final thing left of the monster. Hundreds of their bodies faded away into nothingness.

My vision blurred, my knees buckled, and I passed out.

(Line)

 _A/N: Oh, a cliffhanger? The first one in this story? I'm sorry, I guess you have to come back to see how it all ends. :P Sorry for the slightly shorter chapter, that just seemed like a good stopping point._

 _So, how did you like my action scene with Connie? I tried to make it cool, Connie dual wielding and all that. I hope it's as cool as it looked in my head. I would totally draw some fanart of that to use as a title image, but I can't draw for crap, so… yeah. If anyone made that, Connie, two swords in hand, defending an unconscious Steven from an infinite swarm of birds, or just one giant one, I would credit the crap out of you, but I don't really expect anyone to do so. It looks so cool in my head, just saying._

 _Once again, reviews are always appreciated. Every time I get a positive review it reminds me people like my work, and it makes me work faster and better. And if you_ somehow _have a valid criticism, I guess you could post that, too. Sarcasm, of course, good and bad reviews are all welcome. Next time: we see how our heroes get out of this situation and maybe get back to the main storyline. We're on chapter 7 and we're only on episode 12, for crying out loud!_


	8. Time to Magic the Crap Out of This

**Time to Magic the Crap Out of This**

I felt a crushing to my chest. It hurt, a whole heck of a lot. My eyes flew open. Someone was standing over me, seeming to be attacking me, hitting me in the chest. Everything was so blurry, though, I couldn't make them out. I was about to retaliate when the figure moved over to my face and kissed me. **On the lips.** I did what anyone else would do: I judo flipped the figure ran in the other direction. At least, I tried to. Before I could even start to run, though, I was pulled with the figure onto the floor. And that could only mean one thing. My vision cleared up as I looked back at the person and sure enough, there Steven was, lying in a heap on the floor. "Steven, what the heck?"

Steven put up his hands. "I'm sorry! It's not what it looks like! I woke up, and you were unconscious, and I panicked. I thought you weren't breathing! I didn't know what to do. I've seen people do that in movies, and I tried my best to do that. I just did what I've seen and I didn't know if you were okay and-"

I relaxed. "It's okay, Steven. I was fine, and I guess I've already punished you with the judo flip, right? It's fine, you did it for a good cause. How about this, I'll teach you the real Heimlich later. Next time, just hint: step one of the Heimlich is checking for a pulse."

"Oops," Steven said.

After that was cleared up, I thought about where I was. _Why was I unconscious in the first place?_ In a rush, I remembered everything. The warp, the gems, the bird. I had kind of been in a daze, but now that that was cleared up, I knew what was going on.

I got up quickly and looked Steven's body over. He had a few bruises, but he was overall unharmed. "You're okay! Thank the lord."

Steven shook the earlier mix-up out of his mind like I had. "Okay, what happened? I just woke up in a field next to your unconscious body. Why are we not back at the temple?"

"You wouldn't know that, would you? It's kind of complicated. For one thing, we figured out what happened if only one of us warps…" I said, gesturing to the rubble beneath us that used to be a warp pad.

Steven's eyes widened. "Seriously? What happened?"

"The bird hit me right before the rest of you warped away. You passed out and the pad exploded."

"Wait… what? The pad exploded? What happened to the bird, did the explosion scare it off, or kill it outright?

"It wasn't the explosion, I beat it in a one-on-one duel to the death."

Steven's jaw dropped. "What? The four of us couldn't beat it together! How did you beat it alone?"

I noticed that both swords were still in my hands, even after sleeping for a while. I tightened my grip on both swords. "It's a long story."

"Then I want to hear it!"

I sighed. "How about this. I'll tell you the specifics when we get out of here."

Steven finally made the connection. "Wait. How do we get out of here? The warp is destroyed, right? I didn't know warps could _be_ destroyed. The Gems would be back by now if they could. The Warp is just a bunch of rubble! We're trapped here!"

"I noticed, Steven," I said. "That's why I said we needed to _find_ a way out."

Steven relaxed. "Nah, I'm sure it'll be fine. The gems will be able to come get us. I'm sure they're on their way right now."

I thought about that. "How long would it take for them to get here? Where's the closest warp?"

Steven shrugged. "I don't know. But I'm sure we don't have to worry. They'll be here soon."

"Steven…"

"We don't really need to worry, right? We're fine."

"Steven, what it isn't okay? We're in the middle of the mountains. Who knows how far away another warp is? The gems don't exactly like to use airplanes. It might be weeks until we get back."

"If it's weeks, then so what? I'm sure we can find food."

"Then what if there are more dangerous monsters here? I almost died fighting that bird."

"Connie, why are you making this so difficult? I'm sure the two of us could fight off whatever came our way. What do you think we should do?"

"I don't know. Something besides just sit here and be useless! There has to be something we can do to help."

"Connie, I'm sure you're overreacting. They'll probably be here within a day or so."

"I don't like 'probably.' I want to do something."

"Such as? What could we do? We need to stay put, of course."

"I know, I know. It would be dumb to try and find a way out on our own, thereby completely losing the gems. Maybe… we could try to repair the warp."

"Repair the warp? Before now, I didn't even know warps could break! You think we could do that on our own?"

I sighed. Steven was right. "Aren't you supposed to be an optimist?"

"What can I say, your realism has rubbed off on me."

"I guess we wait for the gems, then," I said, not happy with the fact that was the only way.

Steven thought for a moment. "Then if we have some spare time on our hands, could you maybe tell the story of how you defeated the giant bird?" Steven said with puppy dog eyes.

I sighed. I didn't just want to sit and do nothing, but I guess I could tell the story to pass the time. With luck, they'd be here soon. I struck a fighting stance to get into character and visibly showed that I was discarding any past misgivings out of my mind. If I was going to tell this story, I was going to do it right. "So, there I was, standing over your body. The bird circled slowly, ready to attack at any time…"

* * *

"I paused briefly before striking down the final bird, finally ridding the world of its filth once and for all! Finally, my strength drained from defeating the mighty foe, I passed out."

Steven was in awe. "All that really happened? Even the tiny birds?"

"All true, I swear it."

"Even when you grabbed my sword and used both at once?"

"Why would I lie about that? On that note, here's your sword back," I said, taking his sword from my own holster, twisting it around dramatically, and allowing him to grab its handle.

"Woah! And when did your glasses break in all of this?"

I paused. "My… glasses?" I felt my face. My glasses were there, the hinges were fine, and I didn't remember them breaking them in the battle. Then I reached the lenses. Or rather, the lack of lenses. "You have got to be kidding me," I said. I started laughing. On the floor where I had been lying were two bits of broken glass that used to by glass lenses.

"What's so funny?" Steven said.

"Typical. That pair of glasses has survived being thrown into more pillars then I care to admit to being thrown into, a battle with something like four giant gem monsters, and even the one-on-one clash with the giant bird. What finally takes them down? Hitting them on the rocks when I fainted after the battle. Some glasses you were."

Steven laughed at that. "Seriously? How did you not realize there weren't lenses in them until now?"

"Yeah, I'm unobservant some…times. No, wait," I said. I looked around. Even without lenses, I could still see? How was that possible? It wasn't blurry at all. Why? How? I took off my glasses and threw them to the ground. And everything was as clear as day, even though I don't even remember a time when I didn't have to wear glasses. Heck, I could see better than fine! My vision, it was as good as a hawk's! What was going on?

Steven was a bit confused, for a pretty good reason. I _had_ just thrown my glasses to the floor in a fit. "Connie, what's wrong?"

"My eyes. I can see? When did this happen? I don't need glasses. I don't need glasses? I sound like a confused fusion right now! I don't even know whether to be scared or overjoyed."

"You can see? What do you mean?"

"I don't need glasses, I have perfect vision and I don't even know why." I started laughing and didn't stop. Just another thing to add to the pile of uncertainty, right?

I calmed myself. "I'm okay. I need to stop freaking out before I go so far down the rabbit hole I can never return. I guess having eyes that are fixed rather than broken isn't as weird as any of the other stuff that's happened to us. It's just so personal." There's a difference between a tattoo and the window to the most important of my five senses.

"You okay, Connie?"

"I'm fine, I swear. This whole eyes thing is probably just another stupid inexplicable thing the infinity bond has done." Then I thought of something. "Or is it…"

"I think the answer is yes. What else could have caused it?"

"I remember now! I know exactly when my vision came to me!"

"I'm confused. Your emotions are going haywire, I can feel it."

"That's pretty accurate. Not only because I think I'm currently having a panic attack, but because I think I'm about to make a huge discovery. I know exactly when my vision cleared. When I woke up, everything was so blurry. I thought it was just because I was so exhausted, but I know the truth now. It was because I still had my old vision. Then you kissed me, and I was better!"

"Sorry again about that. So… you got better from the power of love?"

I thought about that. "Maybe. I don't know. I have an idea though." I picked up a rock from the ground and cut my hand.

"Woah!" Steven said. "No need to do that. What if this doesn't work?"

"Then we can make a makeshift band-aid. But let's try this! Kiss me!"

"…On the lips?"

"What? No, of course not. We could try that later maybe. Kiss my cut."

"Won't that infect it?"

"I'll be fine. It's for science!"

Steven finally gave in. "It won't work, but I'll try it, I guess."

I guess Steven needed a little more self-confidence, because the moment he kissed my wound, it sealed itself right up. "This is amazing! Is this an infinity bond thing or a Rose Quarts thing?" I said.

"How should I know? I'm as surprised as you!"

"I don't know! I'm just exited!"

"I know! So am I!"

Then, an even crazier idea occurred to me. "If this is this convenient for us right now, then what if… what if this lets us repair the pad?"

"No way. Come on, just because I can heal humans doesn't mean I can heal rocks."

"Gems are technically rocks."

"That's irrelevant! That would just be way too convenient for us."

"That's exactly why I want you to try it! These kinds of things always seem to happen whenever it's convenient. Maybe a part of the bond is a self-preservation thing that makes sure we have what we need to succeed."

"That's completely illogical. Seriously, aren't you supposed to be the logical one as well?"

"I stopped trying to make sense of this a long time ago. Now, time to lick a rock!"

"Connie, I'm not licking a rock."

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not."

"Yes, rocks are deliscious."

"No, I don't feel like licking rocks today."

* * *

Steven licked the rock. "Bleck!" he said. "Next time, if this works, I'm just licking my hand or something."

"Thanks, Steven!" I said. After about 30 minutes of arguing, he gave in. Score one for Connie. During that time, I calmed down a bit.

We lifted a large chunk of the pad and placed it into place. We stepped back. The rock glowed a pinkish color. The color faded, and what was left wasn't rubble but a piece to the finished warp. I smiled. "So, I was right."

"Shut up. Also, grab that piece of rubble. Let's build this thing." I just grinned wider.

We worked in silence for a little bit.

Pick up rubble, lick, paste, wait. Drink some water, repeat.

Then we made a mistake. We placed down a rock without checking to see if it fit first, just put some spit down and sealed it shut. At that point, instead of glowing, the whole thing shook violently. As a gut feeling, I tackled Steven to the floor. The half-finished warp pad shattered into pieces once again, spreading them all over the grass. A piece of it sailed right over our head, would've hit us if I hadn't tackled him.

"That was close," I said.

"You said it. Why are you always the one saving me?"

I shrugged. "Good instincts." I elbowed him. "Good eyes."

"Yeah, I did heal your eyes, didn't I?"

"That's my point. I save you physically, you save me emotionally. And physically I guess." I looked at the now completely destroyed pad. "Great, that's 30 minutes of work down the gutter."

"Come on, Connie. We have nothing but time here."

"I'm not allowed to be frustrated?"

"Not on my watch. Come on, it's as easy as this:

* * *

S=Steven C=Connie T=Together

S: _Pick up rubble, lick, paste, wait. Drink some water, repeat._

 _Pick up rubble, lick, paste, wait. Drink some water, repeat._

* * *

 _(Somewhat of a marching song. Consistent pace until the final chorus)_

 _S: Don't give up, it's so easy. We just must persevere,_

 _Since when did heavy lifting fill you with so much fear?_

 _We've lived through more explosions then I would care to count,_

 _So let's do this, not rely on the gems, and find our own way out._

* * *

 _T: Brick and mortar, rock and spit,_

 _Drink more water to make it,_

 _Make sure our mistakes are none_

 _Because we don't want to have to start back from square one_

* * *

 _C: The work is rough, My knuckles are red, my face is turning blue_

 _I would surely rather kill a monster, yes it is true_

 _But the two of us are swarming with productivity_

 _And before you know it we'll be done, soon you will see!_

* * *

 _T: Brick and mortar, rock and spit,_

 _Drink more water to make it,_

 _Make sure our mistakes are none_

 _Because we don't want to have to start back from square one_

* * *

 _S: We're nearly there, it's almost done and yet we have so far to go_

 _All the big pieces are finished but the small ones get a great big no._

 _Now we scour the grasslands finding rocks the size of sand_

 _Okay, slight exaggeration, but it's getting out of hand_

* * *

 _C: We won't give up, for a second or minute, not once in a million years!_

 _Even if the gems find us first, we can do this still, so cheers!_

 _We're nearly there, it's almost done, just another pebble or two_

 _Not sure what we'll do we're done but who cares, we're almost through!_

* * *

 _T: Brick and mortar, rock and spit,_

 _Drink more water to make it,_

 _Make sure our mistakes are none_

 _Because we don't want to have to start back from square one_

* * *

 _Brick and mortar, rock and spit,_

 _Drink more water to make it,_

 _Make sure our mistakes are none_

 _(Slowing down) Because we don't want to_

 _have to start back_

 _from_

 _square_

 _one…_

* * *

"Found it!" I said. Finally, the last piece of the warp. We had been searching this field for the last hour for the final piece, but we finally found it. The warp was almost perfect, but there was still a gap. Like in that one movie, Monsters Corp.! The door/warp only had one piece left, and we just found that piece. I brought it back to the warp pad, made sure it fit correctly, and held the rock out to Steven. "Will you do the honors?" I said.

"Of course, my lady," he said. He licked his finger, pasted a bit of spit on his finger, and attached our homemade glue to the structure. We stepped back as the whole warp glowed so bright we had to shield our eyes. What was waiting for us once we opened them again was a completed warp pad, through and through. Even all the tiny cracks missing pieces so small we couldn't find them were filled in. We high-fived each other.

"We did it!" I said.

"We did it!" Steven said.

"Yes!"

"And you said it was impossible," Steven said.

"Liar. It was you who doubted it!" I said.

The two of us play fought a bit, then lay down together on the fully operational warp. Steven turned to me. "So… now what? We don't exactly have any way to teleport. We didn't bring the warp whistle with us."

"The gems could come through the pad, now."

"And how would we tell them that? My phone broke when the pad exploded, yours died during the fight."

"That'll be fun to tell my parents."

"Seriously, what about the gems? This was your idea."

"I guess we'll have an easy way back if they do come get us!"

"You don't have a plan?"

"Nope!"

"Sure, Of course you don't. I'm not surprised, really." Steven looked into the distance. "I hope the gems aren't worrying about us too much."

"They know we're strong. I bet they know we're capable of taking down the bird."

I paused. The two of us said together, "Except Pearl." We laughed.

"But seriously, if we weren't going to use it, why did we build that thing in the first place?"

"I don't know. I guess I wanted to prove we could do it. I'm always looking for ways to show I'm worthy of being on the team!"

Steven stared at me for a few seconds. "You want to prove yourself. _You_ want to prove yourself."

"…Yes?"

"Okay, for the record, you've proven yourself more times than Amethyst has since you've arrived. I don't think I could count the number of times you've proven yourself on one hand."

"Oh, really? How?"  
Steven looked at me for a few more seconds. "You're serious? You've beaten two gem monsters, a non-gem monster _alone_ , we've solved a magical temple in minutes in the time it took the gems hours to not even figure it out at all, we beat the bird up there while the other two argued, you calmed down Pearl, you calmed down your mother, you calmed down me, we survived falling to our deaths, now there's this, should I go on?"

"Okay, I get it. I'm awesome. No, we're awesome. Together, we're better then any one of them! Although I guess a 2v1 isn't exactly fair. Oh, and I doubt we could beat Garnet. She's way more powerful than us."

"You're rambling, Connie."

"Yeah, yeah. But the point is, together, we can do anything."

Steven grabbed my hand. "Even if it's physically impossible?"

I grinned. "If we don't do three impossible things before breakfast, it's been a boring day."

Steven nodded. "We can do anything." And with that, Steven's gem glowed, the warp activated, and we found ourselves back at the temple.

I blinked a few times. "What do you know. We did anything."

Steven and I stared at each other for a few seconds. The two of us burst into laughter. "Take that, world! It took us, what, 24 hours to get off that mountain?"

"Yeah! Infinity duo for life!"

Steven got serious all of a sudden. "We need to find the gems. I'm sure they're still worrying."

Right on cue, Amethyst burst out from the Temple. She looked different, though, new clothes and all that. Maybe she was trying a new look via shapeshifting. "You're okay! You got back! How? I don't care. You can tell the three of us later. You're back!"

"Where are the others?" Steven said.

"Garnet's out looking for you. I'll call her back, she stole another phone." The two of us facepalmed. "Pearl… she's still in her gem."

We knew what that meant because of all the questions mom and dad, and me as well I guess, asked. We both nodded and looked at the ground. "What happened to you guys?" Steven said.

"I don't know. Something seemed to happen on your end. All I know is that out of the portal pops me and P in gem form, and there's no warp back to the mountains. I reformed about 12 hours ago, filled Garnet in, and she left from the closest warp. Pearl won't reform for at least another week."

"Well then call Garnet already! Every minute she walks is another minute she has to walk back," Steven said.

"Okay, okay, sheesh. I want to talk with the two trapped on the other end facing a bird."

"Well… other one would be more accurate. I was unconscious-" Steven said.

"Not now, Steven," I said.

Amethyst stared at us for a second. "Okay, maybe I should grab some popcorn after I call Garnet. This is gonna be good."

* * *

The moment Garnet got the call, Garnet warped back to the Temple. She found some old artifact that let her warp to the temple from anywhere, and she was going to use it to save us. Not important. When she saw us, though, she was almost as happy as the time she found out we could fuse. Almost. We told her and Amethyst what had happened. After we ended the story, there was nothing but a stunned silence.

"I told you you didn't have to prove yourself again," Steven said.

"Oh, shut up."

Finally, Garnet said, "Good work, you two. Connie, I'll be sure to tell this to Pearl once she reforms, and Steven, and I'll tell her about how easily you were able to not only use Rose's healing powers but also activate a gem warp all on your own."

Amethyst butted in. "Can we send them to the arctic with nothing but the clothes they're waering right now? I want to open a betting pool on how long they take to get back. I'm betting on 2 hours."

Garnet ignored her. "The two of you should be proud. Now get to bed. A sleep caused by unconsciousness is no sleep at all."

"But Garnet…" the two of us said.

"No buts. We can party in the morning. For now, though, look at yourselves. You're hardly staying on your own two feet. I don't care what time it was over there, look out the window. It's nighttime."

We protested a little more, but she simply wasn't having it. We had to go to bed. So here we are now, going to sleep, rather abruptly. I wish Pearl were back already, I already miss her. I guess I thought that somehow, she would've magically come back perfectly on time when Garnet arrived. But I guess this is reality, not some story book.

Oh, who am I kidding. Steven happens to have magical powers that _always_ perfectly align with those we need to win the day? Seriously, there's fusing, floating, healing, warping, and in the pyramid, the worst of all: **BASIC LOGIC.** This is totally a story. I bet Pearl will be back soon. Let's see what happens next.

* * *

 _A/N: So remember how I said in my last author's note that it would be cool for someone to make a fanart of that one fight scene? Well someone actually did it for reasons I can't quite comprehend. Huge props to The TRIGGERED Lemur for the new cover art, link to the original artwork here: (Deviantart address)_ /art/Bonded-by-Fate-In-Which-Things-Go-Wrong-696683928

 _Now, I sure hope this chapter's decent, I'll say that now. It took me, like, five tries to write the opening to the chapter to have believable dialogue. Anyways, I'll see you all in the next one. I originally planned on that being based on Steven the Sword Fighter, but then Pearl decided to poof after warping, essentially making that episode become worthless. As I've said, I have absolutely no control over my characters, I just go with the flow. Next time, then: I guess I'll think of something. Maybe roses room, maybe training up dual-wielding Connie. Maybe even a montage of episodes, or some combination of the three. Prepare to be surprised! Because I sure will be…_

 _And finally, thanks again to lemur, they did an amazing job._


	9. Rose's Room is Kind of Terrifying

**Rose's Room (Is Kind of Terrifying)**

We sat together by the TV, bored. There wasn't too much to do, and Steven didn't want to leave Pearl's side in case she came back early. Steven didn't want Pearl to worry about us when she reformed. I tried to convince his there were other ways, but he wasn't having it. Garnet warned us she might not be back for another week, but that didn't stop Steven from being himself. I was sure he'd turn around eventually, but for the time being I was still stuck with him. I could only re-read my favorite books so many times! This part of the link is the worst. Not the new powers, not the danger to my life, not the reading minds. The physical act of being linked together. If the two of you aren't in agreement of where to go, you can't exactly split up and go to separate places. It's annoying, that's what it is. I put down my book and tried to make conversation. "Too bad we can't really train without Pearl."

Steven shrugged. "We could, but what would be the point? It's not like we would have anyone to train with."

I saw an opening. "We could train with each other?"

He didn't even seem to hear my suggestion. "But what if Pearl comes back? She needs to know we're okay so she doesn't have to worry."

"I don't know, we could stick on a post-it to her gem or something."

"Come on, that would just be rude. We're not leaving the temple, we've already had this conversation." Which was true, but I thought I would eventually break through his defenses and get us to do _something_. I never knew that the day after I singlehandedly took down a monster could be so _boring._

"Can't we train in the temple, then? Come on, Steven. Pearl wouldn't want us to skip out on training. She'd want us to keep on fighting and get better and stronger all the time."

I felt Steven's grief, but despite that he smiled a little. "Come on, that's not fair. You're not allowed to bring up would Pearl would want."

"There are no rules. Arguments are free-for-alls!"

"We can't exactly do anything now. I guess we could train later, but we need to wait until Garnet or Amethyst get back so they can be here to help us train."

I tried again with this line of reasoning. "Says who? Couldn't we spar with each other?"

Finally he got my hints. "Connie, the whole point of this is to learn to fight together. What would fighting each other do?"

"We could learn each other's strengths. Don't they always say that fighting someone is the best way to learn about them?"

"No one has ever said that in the entire history of both gemkind and mankind."

"Whatever. I still think it's good advice."

Steven sighed. "I guess we could, but it just won't be the same without Pearl. I wish there was a way she could be with us." I sighed as well. I guess I lost again. Time to think about other ways to convince him.

But maybe I gave up too soon, because Steven's gem glowed in sync with the one on the door to the temple, and the door opened. Steven was shocked. "Is that mom's room?" he said.

"Let's check it out!"

"Wouldn't we have to leave Pearl's side for that?"

"Technically we wouldn't be leaving the temple."

"You're desperate, aren't you."

"I thought that was obvious. Come on, I know your sense of curiosity wants to check it out."

Steven sighed. "Could you stop being so bored? You're sending waves of it my way through this link. Now I'm bored, too."

"Please, Steven? You've always loved exploring unknowns."

"…I'll give you 10 minutes."

"I win!"

"Sure, Connie." He started walking towards the door, but I stopped him.

"Wait, let me grab something."

Even if Steven didn't think it was needed, I grabbed my travel pack, filled with all sorts of useful items. I'm always prepared to go on a mission. I'm not a gem, so I always pack for whatever might come my way. Food, water, violin, my sword, some rope, a medkit, and a lot more. Call it intuition, but I felt I might need it, even if it was just the temple. Steven shrugged and grabbed his sword as well.

And yes, we did put a post-it note on Pearl, because I thought it was funny.

* * *

The door was still open, but we didn't know how much longer it would be that way. The two of us ran into the room, exited. And we found ourselves in a field of pink clouds, just like last time. The door disappeared behind us.

I looked around. "So what's up with this room? All the other gem's rooms have stuff in them. What's in here?"

"We summoned a door to Pearl's room last time." Steven cleared his throat. "Room, could we have a door to Pearl's room?" The same door we saw last time appeared: made from pure light. Steven was a bit excited. "Wow! You try summoning something!"

"Um… I want a book!" I said. A blank book appeared.

"Really? A book?"

"I panicked."

"So what, this room gives us whatever we wish for?"

"I guess so." I realized that it might have sounded a bit negative. "Not to be disappointed or anything, that's awesome! What do we even do with all this? We have unlimited power, and only ten minutes to do anything with it!"

Steven thought for a second. "Maybe I _might_ be able to be convinced to stay a bit longer." I playfully punched him.

We played around bit with what we could do. Nothing too big, or the room kind of overloads and lags a bit. You should be specific, but as long as you have a clear idea of what you want, it's fine since it can read your mind. After around 30 minutes of experimenting, the two of us were enthralled.

Yet I still had a bit of lingering doubt…

As we sat on a couch together and watched a rerun of dogcopter, I had a question. "Why did this room open in the first place? Your powers always seem to run on emotion, right? Fusion, the bubble, even the mysterious telekinesis. Every time your powers activate I feel your emotions surge. Except for the bubble thing, I couldn't feel your emotions yet. But every other time."

Steven thought for a minute, then I felt a rush of sadness. "I was thinking about Pearl. I wished she could be here to help us train," he said.

I relaxed, there was no big mystery. "Yeah. I guess the room opened to cheer us up."

But while I relaxed, Steven got excited. "No, no, maybe it was more specific. What if… we could actually get Pearl to help us train?"

I saw where he was going with that line of thinking. "That might actually work! Could the room even do that?"

"The only way to know is try, right?" Steven said. I nodded. "Room, can you summon Pearl for us to train with?

A light shined in front of us and formed into a familiar shape. Pearl appeared before us. She did a pirouette, then said, "You wish to fight me?" she said.

"No, no!" I said, a bit panicked. "You don't understand, room. We want her to motivate us."

Pearl changed to a more casual stance. "You can do it, guys! Keep it up! Rah, rah, rah!"

"No, no," Steven said. "Pearl wouldn't say that. She's way more constructive. Also, she would never say rah."

Pearl seemed a bit confused. "Do you want to summon an enemy to fight so I can more easily compliment you about it?"

Steven and I sighed in sync, Steven even more so. "Maybe the room isn't capable of making realistic life," Steven said.

I wasn't done yet, though. "I don't know. Room, can't you read our minds and make Pearl the way we remember her, not just how we want her to be second-to second?"

The room paused. Like literally, everything we had already summoned froze in place. It was like it was loading or something. The rest of the room's objects poofed into clouds, making Steven and I fall to the floor off of our summoned couch. The room darkened a bit. Steven and I exchanged an uneasy glance. Maybe this wasn't a great idea…

The room darkened further. "Room, stop!" I yelled, but nothing happened. The room didn't seem to be taking in commands. All the clouds around us spiraled in towards the figure where the fake Pearl stood moments before. The figure glowed a blinding white. I braced against the ground due to the growing winds. I slipped a bit, but Steven grabbed my hand. Finally, just as I was about to be sucked into the middle of the spiral, the winds died down. The figure, now shaped like Pearl once again, dropped to the ground.

Steven and I unsurely walked up to the figure, now the spitting image of Pearl. Neither one of us knew what to say. After a few moments of silence, Steven finally said, "P-Pearl?"

She got up and smiled. "Well, are we training or not?"

I exchanged a look with Steven. "So you're real, Pearl?" he said.

"Real? You guys are being weird, you asked me to be, didn't you? Come on, I'm not able to summon the monsters here, so that part's up to you."

"I don't trust this," I said. "What was with the giant storm earlier?"

"Do you slackers want to train or not? Come on, Connie, don't you want to show me your dual swords?"

"She never told you about her dual swords," Steven said.

"Connie, the room looked into your minds to create me. I have at least a few things I know that I shouldn't. But just because I'm not totally real doesn't mean I'm letting you get off training!"

Finally, I gave in. I couldn't help but get into it. "Pearl, the only time we ever skip training is when you go off on missions. We never slack off."

"Technically, I've never abandoned you on any mission, considering I was made about a minute ago." I chuckled at that. This Pearl was closer to the real Pearl than the last few, not a mindless drone anymore. Even if that's a pretty low bar to meet. Or a high bar, if you consider the room created an actual artificial intelligence.

Pearl says, "But enough about me. Show me your two swords, Connie!"

I nodded. Even if this Pearl wasn't perfect, I thought we might as well play along. I dropped my backpack on the ground and drew my sword. But I didn't have the other sword, Steven did.

I turned to him. "I don't want to take it from you."

"It's fine, really. I can wait."

"Pearl would want us to fight together, though."

"We don't know how to find another sword. Come on, just take it."

Cloud-Pearl (That's what I called her) sighed. "Can't you two just create a cloud sword for Steven to use?"

The two of us facepalmed. "Why didn't I think of that," I said.

Steven handed me his sword and said, "Room, can I have a sword, please?" An unfamiliar sword appeared in his hand. It was a sword that was about the size of his other one, but it was the same pink as the room, with a strange structure to it. The two of us shrugged, it was probably just a room thing.

"Are we done?" Cloud-Pearl said. We nodded. "Good. What do we want to fight today? A gem monster you've fought before, perhaps? Maybe the monkey with the impenetrable defense, but this time maybe you could make it so it doesn't fight back at all. This is your room, after all, Steven, so whatever you say goes."

Steven thought about it. "I don't know, you're putting me on the spot. What do you think, Connie?"

"Why would I know? I-" I cut myself off. "Could we even summon fictional monsters?"

Pearl nodded. "Why couldn't you? The only limit here is your own imagination, unlike with the _other_ Pearl." I noted a bit of sadness, but I passed it off. Pearl always has a bit of sadness to her, unfortunately. I guess not everything about the new Pearl is positive.

I had been quiet for a while. Steven said, "Well, Connie? What was your idea?"

"I wanted to fight my favorite monster from all of The Unfamiliar Familiar: The dreaded three-headed hound!" I said, not even noticing the rhyme. I braced, just in case another storm whipped up, but nothing of the sort happened. The creature appeared, just as I imagined it. Twice as tall as Stevonnie, three heads, and… wow, I guess that it's just a rip-off of Cerberus with different way to defeat it. How did I not see that before? I stopped having time to think about it when the Hound attacked.

Steven pulled me to the side, narrowly avoiding its lunge.

"Focus, Connie," Cloud-Pearl said.

Okay, no more distractions. Let's do this thing. "Its weakness is the tail," I said. "There's a fourth head there."

"That's really weird."

"It makes sense in the books! I'll make you read them once we get through this. Just go for the tail, okay?"

The two of us charged the beast. I thrust my two swords at it, but I was sluggish. The hound effortlessly knocked my swords away. Now that I wasn't fighting for Steven's life, I wasn't very skilled at using two swords, especially on offense. Instinct alone couldn't save me here. The hound leaned back and lunged at me, prepared to swallow me whole. I jumped back. I might not have looked panicked on the outside, but Steven could see my emotions. He knew.

"Connie, you okay?"

I considered lying, but I didn't see any reason to. I told Steven the truth. "I'm in over my head. I can't dual-wield consistently yet. Maybe we should start simpler and work our way up."

Steven nodded. "I won't make you do something you're not comfortable with. Room, please get rid of the hound."

I expected the hound to go away, obviously. But it didn't. It snarled at us. "Why isn't it going away? I don't get it. Room, get rid of it!"

The hound lunged at us. I drew up my two swords and did the two-sword parry I used against the bird. Unfortunately, I wasn't prepared to face the other two heads. Its right head lunged at me and knocked Steven and I to the side. I really should have chosen an easier monster to kill. Also one that didn't have three separate heads and three separate brains.

Cloud-Pearl jumped in front of us. "I won't let you hurt these children!" she said with enough gusto that it actually took a step back.

"Why is it still here?" I said.

Pearl shook her head. "You said you wanted to fight it, the room entered arena mode. If you could simply wish away your enemies, it would be difficult to have a real fight here. You can't wish for anything until he's defeated."

"That's incredibly dangerous!" said Steven. "Why didn't you warn us?"

"I didn't think of it, okay?" Pearl said.

The hound saw weakness in Pearl and attacked again. Pearl tried to knock it away with her spear, but then she saw that there was no spear in her hands. It knocked her aside. "Pearl!" Steven and I said in sync.

Pearl rubbed her back and got up slowly. She frowned. "I'm… not real. I can't summon my own weapon. Thanks for reminding me, room. Um… you can do it, guys! Rah!" She promptly passed out.

The two of us chuckled a little, but got back to the topic at hand. The hound eyed us on, ready for our next attack. Steven turned to me warily. "So how did they defeat it in the book?"

I sighed. "They had Archimicarus distract its heads while Lisa attacked it from behind."

"So… that's not really an option for us," Steven said.

"I didn't think of that when I summoned it, okay?"

"Don't worry about it. We'll think of something."

Steven was always so confident like this. I sighed. "How do you even put up with me?"

"What do you mean?" said Steven.

"I always do things like this, acting without thinking. Now we're stuck facing this thing without any way of really fighting back. I can't even use my swords right!"

"Why do I 'Put up with you?' I mean, yeah, I don't really have a choice, but there's so much more. Because can you name a time besides this you've done something like this? Yeah, you often act on impulse, but it's usually for the better. Do you think you could have beaten that bird with a carefully thought out plan? And what about the worm when we first met, you acted impulsively and it saved our lives. Everybody makes mistakes. Look, can we finish this conversation later? Preferably when we're not being attacked by a Cerberus?"

"First, I should thank you. You're right, I have no reason to be down in the dumps. Second, I don't get why the hound's letting us talk for this long! Oh, and third, it's a Three-headed Hound, not a Cerberus!"

I looked over at the Cerberus Hound, but it was strange. It was eying us and all, but it seemed frozen, like a few minutes ago while the room was 'loading in' Pearl. But it was different. It wasn't completely stopped, but everything was going so slowly it might as well have been doing so. It was the most bizarre thing I had ever seen, was the room loading or something? In the same way, though, I kind of recognized it.

Apparently, Steven had the same realization. "Everything's going so slowly. This is just like that one time when we were falling to our death! Time is barely moving at all. Why does this happen?"

I thought about it. "This is kind of an anticlimactic fight, but maybe it gives us a chance. We can talk about whether I'm a terrible person later. What the heck is this?"

Steven said, "Logic mode, activate!" Steven centered himself. "So, when had this all happened? Only when we're in a spot where we were practically dead."

"But what about all the times we were nearly killed by a monster? We were fairly close to being dead fighting the worm and the bird, but it didn't activate those times."

"I guess we weren't really in danger at those points? Right now, maybe we were? It activated something like 30 seconds before the impact last time. What if it activates 30 seconds before we're about to die?"

I pondered that. "It makes sense. Pearl's down, it has three heads, so sneaking around it's not really an option, and it could easily bite the two of us in two. We're also both exhausted. Maybe we _were_ 30 seconds from death before this activated. Honestly, if that's accurate, your mom's room is kind of terrifying. Oh, yeah, and we were ABOUT TO DIE? Yeah, let's not waste this frozen time thing and make a plan."

"Remember, it is just a theory. It might just be because you were feeling bad for yourself or something, that's another common thread."

"If there's even a chance we were about to die, we need to tread this carefully. Sure, we might be wrong, but if we're right, we need to take the opportunity given to us."

Steven nodded decisively. "Yeah! Plan time. How do we best make a plan, then?"

"Step one is taking inventory. What do we have to use?"

"We have your backpack. Wait, there's food in there! We could distract it with food! That's it!"

"No, it isn't. The hound is specifically stated to only eat live meat, and I didn't pack any live rats."

"Oh. Maybe they'd still be a bit distracting?"

"They tried it in the book. It didn't work."

"Okay, okay. Let's see… you also have some rope. Maybe we could curl it up in a ball and use it to distract it like some of the ancient Greek heroes?"

"It might work- wait, where did you learn about the ancient greek stories in the first place?"

Steven's enthusiasm melted slightly. "It was when our minds merged. You knew a lot about them, so…"

"Sorry I brought it up! I get it. Please, continue." It was still a sore subject. I don't bring it up much, but it's not easy knowing all your best friend's memories.

"So, about the ball idea?"

"It might work, but I don't have enough rope for it. I also don't know how to make a good enough knot to make a ball in the first place. It's a better idea, though."

"Is there any reason why we aren't just going over and defeating it while time is slowed down?"

"That's… a brilliant idea. How did I not think of that?"

"I have to have some good ideas. Got to pull my weight in this team somehow."

The two of us sort of casually walked to the back of the Cerberus. I took out my sword and swung it at its tail, chopping it clean off. The beast howled and fainted. We took a few steps backwards quickly to see if it would counterattack, but nothing of the sort came.

"Well, that was easy," Steven said.

"Too easy," I said. Something was off. Why had it fallen in the first place? Wasn't time frozen? Then I looked closer. Atop the fallen hound was another ghostly image where it was still upright. What was going on? I walked closer to examine it. What was with this thing?

"C-connie?" Steven said.

"I'm busy, Steven. There's this weird ghostly image around the Cerbur- I mean, hound."

"Connie, look at me."

I sighted and turned around. It was just Steven, standing maybe 5 feet away from me. He was shocked, but I couldn't figure out why. Nothing seemed off. He was wearing the same old t-shirt, the same old jeans he wears every day. Nothing too unusual. So why did he want me to look at him? _Wait._ _5 feet away?_ I tentatively took a step back, then another. I couldn't feel the pull I always did. There was nothing there. Suddenly I understood Steven's confusion. After a few seconds, I finally yelled, "YEAAAAHH!" I just started sprinting around, no need to keep pace with anyone else. I tried to do a cartwheel and failed. I spun in place, and finally fell to the floor, laughing. I was free.

Steven walked over to me. "Well someone's excited."

"I'm free! Why am I free? Who cares! I'm free!"

"Sure, Connie, I'm excited, too. I just want to know why this is happening before you go insane."

"Who cares? Maybe me, all things considered. Has it been this way the whole time in this room? Maybe we aren't confined in here."

"No. I've felt the bond's tug here before."

My enthusiasm melted. This wasn't gone for long. "Then it's probably just because of the time dilution thing. I bet we'll be back to normal once it's all over."

"Cheer up. You always like when we solve one of the mysteries of our powers. If we got this, what do we have left? Only where they came from, why we can fuse, why our minds merged, why the warp exploded, the whole telekinesis thing… okay, a lot more, but it's one more check off the list."

"You're right. So why can we separate? What do we know? We aren't connected, time moves at a crawl, and there's ghostly images above real ones." I turned my head in thought, and saw the final piece of the puzzle. "I think I have the answer, but it might not be the one we're looking for."

"Really? What do you think it is?"

I pointed to where we had been standing when this started. There were two ghostly images standing there, one of Steven and one of me. Steven scratched his head. "What's up with those?"

"This is all in our heads. That's the real us, still standing there, facing the monster."

"How are you so sure?"

"It makes sense. Think about it. If this was all in our heads, everything we do here doesn't matter. There's no infinity bond since our actual bodies aren't moving. We only defeated the thing in our heads. In reality, it's unscathed, hence ghostly image still standing. This frozen time thing isn't a cheat to kill stuff, it's a cheat to plan stuff. Which is really bad for us, because now we're just back at square one."

Steven buried his head in his hands. "Why is it every time we begin to make progress it's all taken back?"

"I don't know. In this case we didn't make progress at all, we just thought we did."

"If we can't use this, maybe we could use other things in your bag. There was a Cerberus in Shaggy Blacksmith and the Wizard's Rock. Didn't they defeat it with music? We could use your violin."

"It would take me ages to set up, and that's if it works at all. This thing was said to be smart. I thought they took it down in the books way too easily. I think the room decided to take my interpretation of what I thought it should've been and used that. Again, I'm sorry."

"Come on, Connie. There must be something we can do! You aren't giving up, are you?"

"Of course I'm not giving up! I just don't think there's anything in my bag that could help. I don't even know if I could get to my bag, it's a good 15 feet away from where I'm standing. We need to be more creative than that."

Steven finally calmed down. "There isn't much we can do. We can't fight the monster, we're not skilled enough. At least, not yet…" He had a eureka moment. "Connie, I think I'll take you up on your offer to sword fight with me. If we can't beat it with a complex strategy, then all we have left is brute force. You need practice dual wielding, I'm here to help."

"Is that the only plan we can think of?"

Steven answered by swinging his sword at me, something I just barely blocked.

"Yep," I said.

We fought for a long time. We weren't on a time limit. Since this was apparently just a mental construct, we had nearly infinite stamina as well, so we never tired out. Steven had the upper hand for the first hour or so. I was still getting used to using two swords at once. I was mostly just hacking and slashing with no form to it. It's really hard to keep track of, okay? Try using two nerf guns at once or something, your accuracy on both will suffer immensely. But it was slowly improving.

As I was learning how to dual wield more effectively, I was also learning Steven's style. While I was aggressive, taking even the tiniest of openings to lead into an all-in assault, Steven was more careful. He waited for a big screw-up to unleash his assault. If he didn't see something like that, he was practically a solid wall. Today, big mistakes were happening very often. As I got better, though, he didn't capitalize on my smaller mistakes at all, he just waited for me to do something big, which always happened in time. He seemed to play an approach where he played for stamina, not aggression. No wonder his summon weapon was a shield, he was all defense.

After an hour or so, though, I started getting better. I was getting the hang of using two swords. More importantly, though, I changed my style. While I used to always go for a killing blow, I remembered how I faced the bird, wearing it down slowly. I started doing that more, taking small gaps as ways to form tiny cuts and bruises all over Steven. Fortunately, we couldn't feel pain here. With the combination of confidence, the new strategy, and just plain more skill, I was finally holding my own against Steven that match.

His defense was excellent, almost no mistakes at all. He was easily deflecting two swords while I only had to deal with one. I eyed him carefully. Some sign of weakness had to be there. Finally, I saw and opening, right at his neck. My right sword clashed with his, and my left lifted upwards. I had tried disarming him several times, but it never worked very well. But I didn't see an opening to disarm. Without even thinking about the consequences, my left sword swung in an arc towards his head. I realized he wasn't a holo-pearl or enemy, but it was too late. Steven's eyes widened in shock. I couldn't stop the sword. It hit Steven square in the neck, chopping his head clean off.

* * *

My eyes snapped open, and I was exhausted. It took me a second to realize what just happened. We were back in the real world. I saw the Cerburus eying us, now no longer just a statue. "I'm so sorry!" I said.

Steven wasn't hurt, but he was tired. "You can apologize when we're done. We supposedly have 25 seconds until we die, right? Let's deal with that."

I was still guilt-ridden, but Steven was right. We had a battle to win.

The Cerberus finally charged. In the initial assault, I took the brunt of the blow, like with the bird's charge. It wasn't easy, the thing was heavy. I needed to build up more muscles. Steven took a quick stab while I was taking the brunt of the force, then bolted backwards. Meanwhile, I just kept blocking. The both of us were kind of using the other's style as a show of respect.

We kept it up, but the timer to our supposed death was still ticking. _If we're right about this, what would've killed us? Are we off that path already?_ At 8 seconds left, I got my answer. The Hound leapt backwards. Steven had been counting, too, I heard him doing so through telekinesis. _Wait, I heard his counting? It's working again? Later, this is more pressing._ The monster started breathing in through all three heads, never stopping.

5 seconds to go. I heard Steven's thoughts. _What's it doing?_

4 seconds. I thought back, _It wasn't in the books! I don't know!_

3 seconds. _Wait,_ _why can I hear your thoughts?_

2 seconds. _No time! Brace for impact!_

1 second. The hound, after all that breathing, finally let it out. A breath of fire, and I was in front of it. There was nothing I could do. Steven, though, he could do something. On impulse, he leapt in front of me. A massive shield summoned in front of us and blocked the fire from reaching me. The fire went harmlessly off to either side of us.

The fire stopped coming, and the shield dropped into nothingness. After that all-out attack, the Hound collapsed onto the floor, exhausted. With the last of my strength, I charged it, hoping to finish it off, but found myself pulled backwards. I turned and saw Steven lying on the floor, exhausted.

"Come on! This is our chance! Just summon a little more strength. I could against the bird, you can do it here."

"I'm not as strong as you, Connie. I-"

"To heck you aren't! We aren't having any heartfelt speeches until we finally defeat this dang thing!"

Steven was a bit taken aback by my unsubtlety, but he still managed to struggle to his feet. I grabbed his hand and pulled him over to the tail. It made me realized just how tired I was, but I was never going to give up. We wrapped our arms around each other and propped each other up. We were each exhausted, but we weren't going to stop. I didn't care about how tired he was or how tired I was. Our emotions started to sync up. We were both feeling an overwhelming sense determination. We had overcome death, there was no chance we were going to let ourselves die now. Our emotions synced perfectly, and the two of us fused.

I held two swords in one hand and one in the other, now. "Huh, we didn't even think of fusion while brainstorming," I said.

Out of nowhere, I felt an overwhelming sense of emotional pain. The emotions the two of us had hidden from ourselves and each other came forth through me. I felt the pain of two people. I felt the pain I had been suppressing, the guilt of putting us in this situation, of summoning the thing that nearly killed me. I felt the pain my other half had been suppressing, the fear that he didn't have the strength to take this on, the awe that Connie could defeat the bird, the thought that he could never do anything like that. I was almost overwhelmed by the emotions, but the emotion that summoned me in the first place came through. I ran over to the Cerburus's tail. Clouds started swirling around me, I guess reacting to my emotions.

As I ran, I raised my three swords upwards. The pink sword locked together with the other two, forming a sword taken right out of an anime. A pink midsection separated two sides of silver and gold. I reached the tail just as the beast regenerated its strength and got up. I felt the wind surrounding me. As the center of the storm, I brought the single sword downward onto the tail, cutting the tiny head on the end clean off. The Hound howled and fell, the body falling backwards into the ground, the cloudy floor swallowing the body.

I looked at the sword in my hands. I had no idea what had just happened with my sword, but I didn't care. I was exhausted. I knew if I unfused, I would pass out instantly, so I said, "Room, make the exit appear. Now." A door appeared before me. I walked through it and saw the temple, just where we had left it. And according to the clock, we had been gone for only 40 minutes, but it felt a whole lot longer. As I walked out, the pink sword despawned, leaving just the two separated normal swords. A mystery for another day. I went over to the couch and took the post-it note off Pearl's gem. My adrenaline faded, and I promptly passed out on the couch. Suddenly I didn't care about being there for Pearl nearly as much as I did at the beginning of the day. I knew it would all work out.

* * *

 _A/N: I have no idea how good this chapter is. I hope it's decent, after all this time working on it. I hope it's not too long or too cluttered. But it's too late if it is. I really, REALLY hope you enjoy. And if you don't, PLEASE tell me. I had a lot of things I wanted to do here, so tell me if it went poorly so I can improve it. Oh, and if it's somehow half-decent, then tell me as well. Now you can read the rest of the author's note, written before I kept procrastinating all of this._

 _Fancy new story summary, huh? I thought the original was okay, but it could use some more work. More of my personal charm. So, I reworked it. I really hope you liked it, I spent more time working on it than I would care to admit. I considered also changing the title, but at that point it's just dishonest. New title, new art, new description? People would think it's a totally new story! That's just dishonest. I just thought calling it "The Infinity Bond" would be so much cooler. Oh well, too late to change that._

 _I do plan to do more things with Rose's room in the future, it's totally underutilized in the show. I even have an arc planned spanning a few chapters. But that won't happen for a while, I don't want to be too repetitive._

 _For some unexplained plot points: The reason Connie can wish for things from the room is because of the empathy portion of the powerset. Connie's feelings are at least partially Steven's as well. That's the cannon explanation, it just isn't appearing in the actual story because there's no reason for any character to mention it. Also, the reason it was so hard for the room to create Pearl when it was so easy to create Rose is because Rose is an actual part of Steven. Same with Connie: she was already there. If they had physically brought Pearl with, they might be able to create her easily, considering the room had access to her memories. They didn't, though, so it took the room a lot more effort. So no plotholes (unless I forgot anything)_

 _Way too long author's note aside, next time: I actually have a plan. And when I have a plan, you know things are gonna get interesting. See you guys then._


	10. I Never Understood Lying to Protect

**I never understood lying to protect…**

 _A/N: Quick thing before we start: The net two chapters were originally written to be one chapter, but the more I wrote the more I knew it had to be two. I'm releasing this one tonight and the next one tomorrow morning to build suspense. More details at the bottom._

* * *

I heard voices. Loud voices. Voices that sounded familiar. My eyes creaked open and I saw Pearl and Garnet in front of me. I knew something was wrong with that, that they shouldn't be able to argue at all, but I couldn't put my finger on why. They were arguing, something I hadn't heard the two of them do before. Maybe Pearl and Amethyst, but not the two of them.

Pearl was the one talking. "How could you possibly have not seen the warp explosion coming? And even if that's in the past, what about now? Can't you look 30 minutes into the future and see their explanation of how Stevonnie ended up fused, holding two swords, and covered in cuts and bruises?" I looked down at myself and sure enough, that description was accurate. I guess I never unfused while I was asleep. But I could worry about that later. What was Pearl talking about?

"I keep telling you," Garnet said, "I can't see their future. I have no idea what could happen to them. So could you not blame me for all of this, which I clearly had no part in? Calm down, Pearl!"

Pearl wasn't listening. "I reformed as quickly as possible, somehow coming back with a form that's at all palatable, just to find Stevonnie passed out next to me covered in bruises, you standing there in shock, and to top it all off the door to Rose's room open? You expect me to be calm?"

"You have no need to worry, Pearl. As I've already told you, the two of them are-"

Pearl's eyes widened as she interrupted Garnet. "Stevonnie! How long have you been awake?" She had seen me sitting on the couch, listening in confusion and mild anger.

"Only a minute or so. But please, continue," I said. "What was Garnet about to say? About why not to worry?"

Garnet was in a panic, again something I had never seen her do before. "Please, Stevonnie, don't misunderstand. I was going to tell you-"

"That you can predict the future? Or maybe you can't see the future? I don't even know! What else have you not been telling me?"

"Please, Stevonnie. Will you just give me time to explain myself? It wasn't meant to come out like this. Pearl, can you help me out here?"

Unfortunately for her, had just stopped. Her mouth hung open and she made no other action to show she was in the conversation at all, or that she was even alive.

My anger mostly melted away and I tried to be rational. My Steven side didn't like yelling at Garnet. "Garnet, what's going on here? Can you see into the future or can't you? If you can, how long have you been able to do that? What do you mean that you can't see our future? And what were you going to say at the end?"

Garnet sighed. "I guess I had to tell you eventually, I just didn't expect it to be so soon. I'll tell you as much as I can, there would be no point in lying."

Pearl finally spoke up. "So… could someone please tell me how the two of ended up fused and injured on the couch? And how they got back in the first place? And how I ended up poofed?"

I cocked my head. "Shouldn't she know the answer to half of those questions?" I said.

Garnet shook her head. "She reformed 4 minutes ago. I saw the future, which, yes, is something I can do, and knew she would freak out like that. I made sure to be there to comfort her. I didn't get a chance to finish calming her because you woke up." She glanced at the gem beside her. "And Pearl, I don't need to be able to see the future to know that their issue is more pressing."

Pearl looked at the floor. "Sorry. I can wait."

Garnet turned her attention back at us. "Yes, I can see into the future, it's not something I thought you should know yet. Who knows what might have happened? When Steven was younger, the odds were nearly a hundred percent he would freak out and never leave my side, be afraid of every little thing that could kill him. He was too young, he couldn't take the knowledge."

My Connie side defended Steven. "He's older now, he could take it."

"You're right, he probably could take it. But I was scared. And I know, you think I'm fearless." Garnet removed her visor. "The truth is, when I look at the two of you, I'm terrified."

Steven and Connie were both conflicted inside of me. Neither wanted to know the answer, but both knew they had to know the answer. "Why are you terrified?" I finally said.

"Please, I can't tell you."

"Garnet, we're both being honest here. Just tell me the truth."

Garnet's three eyes locked onto us. "The truth is, when I look at you, I see nothing. The future surrounding you is simply blank. I can't predict what will happen to you. You may as well be invisible."

I wanted to be scared, but my more logical Connie side was confused. "I don't get it. Can you see into the future or can't you? Even if you can't see us, you can still see all of the events surrounding us, so why would it matter?"

Garnet was confused for a second, then her eyes lit up in understanding. "Oh, I guess I never told you. The truth is, I can't truly see into the future. I can simply see possibilities of what the future might be. You've ever heard of parallel universes?" I nodded. "I can see all the different paths the universe might take, the different universes it might become. For example, when I look at Pearl, and I can see all the different ways her day might go, all the ways she might find out what happened while she was out. She might go to Amethyst and get answers from her, she might stay here and wait, she might forget about it all together until lunch, or even longer, or maybe she could even investigate Rose's room herself. The door's still open, after all. And she might not have time to do any of that because a meteor crashes into all of us in 5 minutes and kills us all without a second thought."

I was understandably shocked. "And how is that not more terrifying than us? You saw her die!"

Garnet shrugged. "I'm used to it by now. And besides, it's kind of reassuring. I can see how to prevent any danger, I can keep us safe."

"I could never deal with knowing all the ways I could die!"

"Yes, you could, it would just take time." Garnet's face darkened. "The real question is, could you deal with not knowing afterwards?"

"What?" Garnet looked kind of scary, a shadow taking over her face. It was like

"Before you came, I could always see Steven's future. I could see it for years. Ever since Rose became him, I followed her wishes and kept him safe. I saw how every little thing could kill him, his fragile little human body, and I made sure nothing ever harmed him. It all changed, then, when we found you and Steven on the beach, and I could see nothing."

"Garnet, where's this coming from?" I said.

She didn't seem to hear me. "You want to know how many times he would've died without me? I counted. It was fifty-seven times. The last one had been only a month before you showed up. Then you come back with Steven, and suddenly the future is gone. If something came up and he was put in harm's way, there was nothing I could do. If that warp had shattered Pearl or Amethyst, I couldn't have done anything to stop it. You ask why I'm terrified? There's nothing I can do to keep you safe."

I was silent for a long while. Connie finally said, through me, "Y-you don't blame me… do you?"  
Garnet seemed to realize what she had just said. "No, no, Connie. I don't blame you! Please, you don't need to think that."

Without warning, the two of us diffused onto the floor. For me, it came out of nowhere. We had been mostly agreeing, emotionwise. We were one entity, after all. Suddenly, though, Steven's emotions exploded while mine stayed mild by comparison. Even now I could feel his rage through the link. Steven was about to let out something big.

Steven got up. "Garnet, during that entire rant, here's what I heard. 'I wanted to protect _him_.' 'Then you and _Steven_ showed up.' 'I kept _him_ safe.' ' _Connie_ , I don't blame you.' Every single time, when you talked to us, you didn't talk to us. You talked to her. We were fused, yet all you saw was Connie. So you want to insult her, you want to blame her for all of this, you'd better blame me as well, because we're in this together. Don't you ever forget that."

"Steven, I-"

"I would be dead if not for her three times over, and you're blaming her for all of this? Even if you don't admit it now, I heard your voice, I heard the inflections. You do blame her. Even if it's beyond her control, you find her at fault. Didn't you just tell Pearl not to blame you for something you had no control over? If you really do love me, you'd know this isn't her fault at all. I'm more at fault than she is. We still haven't ruled out the fact that my gem is the thing causing all of this. So don't you dare blame Connie."

"Please, listen to me! Yes, it's true that I blame Connie, maybe a little bit. It's ture, I'm not perfect, I can't help think things I know aren't true. But the moment she entered your lives, my future vision was cut off. I can't lie and say I'm not a little frustrated. The thing is, I got over that a long time ago. I don't know why I decided to bring it up again now, and for that, I'm so, so sorry. And I'm sorry for forgetting Steven was there with you. She just looks so much like you, Connie, I couldn't let it go. I'm just screwing everything up, aren't I? The truth is, I suck at personal interactions. Why do you think I'm so quiet all the time? All my life, I can predict where the conversation is going and make sure it always works out the way I want it to, almost every single time. But when I talk to the two of you, again I see nothing. I only get one chance to get a conversation right. If I fail, I have to live with it. And I'm pretty sure I just failed."

The two of us sat on that for a few moments. Maybe we pushed too far. Finally, I spoke up. "Garnet, not having magic powers doesn't make you a failure. It makes you just like everybody else. I can't see into the future. Steven can't see into the future. I don't think Pearl or Amethyst can't see into the future. If we mess up a conversation, we accept it and move on. If we make a mistake, we accept it and try to fix it and learn from it."

Pearl had been mostly silent through the conversation, but she backed me up here. "I know you feel responsible for keeping the team safe, I just never knew it meant this much to you. Garnet, you can't save everyone. We won't blame you if something wrong happens, and I'm sorry that I did lash out at you earlier. Yes, I'm sorry all this is happening, and yes, it sucks we can't see the future clearly anymore, but we can move on. You still trust Steven enough to let him go off on missions, don't you? If you really did want to keep him safe and nothing else, would you still be letting him go put himself in danger? Besides, Garnet, as you were telling me earlier, you don't need to worry. The two of them are-"

Garnet had been calming down, but when Pearl started the sentence she was back to being just as panicked as when we had just woken up. "Don't say it! They can't know yet!"

Pearl said, "No offense, but you can't see the future anymore. How do you know what they should or shouldn't be told?"

"I thought we were being honest with each other," I said.

"Garnet, what could be so bad you can't tell us about it?" Steven said. "Literally, what could possibly be worse than hiding your future vision?"

Garnet wasn't just frustrated or angry. She was terrified. "Please, don't make me say it. You can't know. You just can't."

Even Pearl was getting confused at this point. "What are you talking about? Have you been… hiding something from me? Because if we're thinking of the same thing, I don't know why you would be so scared to say anything."

Garnet was being questioned from all sides. Then, out of nowhere, her body started glowing white, deforming into a strange shape. It almost looked like she was evolving in Pokémon or something. Then, her shape solidified back into herself as if nothing had happened at all. Steven and I were just confused, but Pearl was horrified.

Garnet was gasping for breath after whatever just happened. She looked like she had seen a ghost. Garnet finally put her visor back on to hide her face. "Pearl, you want to know my secret? I promise you, you'll wish I didn't tell you a few minutes from now." Garnet said. "But if you want, I'll tell you now. You'll find out sooner or later, I can sense it. If you still want to know, come with me to the temple, I'm willing to make it sooner. You deserve to know the truth."

Steven and I exchanged a look of uncertainty as Garnet walked into the temple, the door to Rose's room finally closing and Garnet's room opening. Pearl hesitated for a moment, her eyes flickering between us and Garnet. She then ran after Garnet, leaving the two of us alone in the study, the door to the temple closing behind them.

After a few moments, I said, "What just happened?"

Steven nodded. "I don't know? We were in the middle of our classic 'single speech/song solves all the world's problems' shpeil, Garnet was starting to listen, everyone was calming down, and everything started to reach a solid conclusion. Then all of a sudden she freaks out all over again over something we don't even know what it could be, she starts doing what I can only describe as evolving, then pressing "B" mid-evolution."

"We're completely in the dark. What could she possibly know that she would run away like that for? Now we can't even follow them and figure this all out."

Steven looked over at the door, feeling his gem. "Technically, we could…"

"But do we want to? Sure, Garnet's scared she can't protect us, but she didn't show the fear too much. Whatever she's hiding, she was so scared of that Garnet of all people couldn't stop her face from contorting to become an expression of pure terror."

Steven buried his head into his hands. "I don't know. I miss when everything was black and white. Yeah, we were in mortal danger, but it didn't make me doubt that one of my best friends is on our side!"

"Steven! You can't mean that!"

"But I really do! She says she's finally going to be open with us, then goes on out to lie to us all over again."

"Steven, you know Garnet better than that. You heard her speech. She does everything to protect you. She's probably just being overprotective."

"But think of all the times she's kept stuff from us. Like that time on the beach when we fused for the second time, was she trying to hide her future vision, or something totally different? What else has she been hiding, even from Pearl?"

His emotions were giving me a headache. I hadn't known Garnet for as long as he had, but this was hitting him especially hard because he had. "Steven, you're overreacting and you know it. I mean that literally, I can read your emotions and I know you're lying to yourself."

Steven was silent for a moment. "I know, but it's hard. Garnet hid that she saved my life fifty-seven times, but failed to mention that to me when she couldn't do it anymore?"

"Just let it go. I'm sure it'll all come out later and we'll wish Garnet never told us. We should be thankful she's keeping something away from us that scares a being that's lived for thousands of years."

"How are you so calm about all of this? You've still known Garnet for a few months, yet you act as if what just happened didn't just happen."

"I've already told you: One of us has to stay calm."

"Then why is it always you who's staying calm and not me?"

I was about to give some answer I'd given a thousand times before. Then I realized, I'd never answered that question, I didn't have a pre-made answer to give. It made me actually think about it. What started out a simple question became a lot more complicated as I realized where exactly I got it from. A tear formed in my eye without me even thinking about it.

Steven's negative emotions about Garnet melted away instantly. "What's wrong, Connie?"

I didn't want to say anything. The memories that came back to me weren't pretty, and I didn't want to share them. Unfortunately, the infinity link had other ideas. I felt an intense pain in my palm. I looked at it and saw the infinity sign on my palm literally burn a purple fire. The pain was intense, like it was being branded onto me. Steven was unfortunately sharing my pain, his palm burning pink. I screamed in pain, and I heard Steven do the same. I closed my eyes to try to shut out the pain. I saw my hand in front of me and for once the symbol on it was clear. And it wasn't just an infinity sign like the picture on the pyramid. It was an hourglass. The image of the timepiece made of purple fire seemed to leap off my palm and hover in front of me. The hourglass flipped over, and the pain melted away as the memories of my past that I had surpressed for a long time overtook me, and Steven was brought along for the ride.

* * *

 _A/N: So here's the situation: I wrote a chapter, and it ended up feeling more like 2. Then I made it 2, and the next one is coming out 2morrow mornign. Yep, these are the puns we have. Anyways, this means you don't have to wait too long on the cliffhanger and you essentially got two chapters and still only had to wait 3 days. A win-win if I ever saw one. Hope you enjoy!_

 _This isn't happening for many, many chapters, but I can't wait until they meet Padparadscha Sapphire. Would they be invisible if future vision doesn't work? Who knows! Will I even be writing the story then? Who knows! But it's interesting to think about._

 _You know, in the show, I always found Garnet's powers inconsistent. She can see the future, why would she be surprised that Pearl was the one behind repairing the communication tower? Why wouldn't she see Jasper's weapon coming and easily block it, ending the battle before they even entered the spaceship? It's always seemed off to me. Well, I have an excuse this time around, because Garnet's future vision is mostly blinded. Take that, showrunners! I've removed a major(ish) plot hole, and it only required that I rewrite the entire fabric of the show! It's so simple! Why doesn't Cartoon Network try it?_

 _Feel free to theorize about what Garnet's hiding (No, it's not the fact that she's a fusion, it's my very own plot twist), or any other things about the future of the story. I'm interested to see if anyone's able to get it right. Or maybe if I made it too obvious and everyone already knows. Hey, at least then I would know that and would feel no real need to hide it. No, it's not just coming in the next chapter, it's going to be a mystery for a while. So feel free to take some guesses._

 _Next time: …duh? We see what happens in Connie's memories. See you tomorrow._


	11. Forgotten Memories

**F** **orgotten Memories**

I had been homeschooled up to fifth grade, but that was about to change. I was finally allowed to go to public school. I was so excited! So many kids, so many chances to make some new friends! No longer would I sit out on the beach and be lonely. I could take charge of my life! I was Constance Maheswaran, and I was just fine! A new chapter of my life was starting, here and now.

I cheerfully skipped into the school, and saw all of the new faces around me. They all looked so friendly! But all of them had their own friends already. I was afraid to intrude on existing groups. Still, I would not be brought down! I saw a girl sitting and reading my favorite series at the time, so I knew we had something in common. I grabbed a chair next to her. "Hi, I'm Constance! What's your name!" I said, with as much joy as I could. I wanted to make a positive first impression.

The girl looked up and saw my hand outstretched. She looked at me with mild confusion. "I don't recognize you. Are you new here?"

"Yeah, I just got here. This is my first year in a public school, and there are so many people here I could be friends with! You're reading a book I really like, so I thought I could start with you. Want to be my friend?"

She smiled at me. "I like your cheerful attitude. Yeah, we can be friends. My name's Kelia."

* * *

The memory shifted to later that day. The teacher was reading out names. It seemed to take an eternity. So many people to befried. Where would I even begin? Around halfway through, they got to my name. "Constance Ma- ma-has-warren?" she said.

"It's Maheswaran, ma'am."

"Thank you. Constance Maheswaran?"

 _She got it really fast!_ I thought. _She must be smart._ "Here!"

I thought that would be that, but I heard a few kids whispering behind me. "Wow, Constance? That sounds like a grandma's name."

"And Mahalakawaka or whatever? Talk about way too long. She must be so embarresed about having such a stupid name." The two of them snickered.

"That's not very nice," I said.

"Yeah, whatever, grandma."

I was going to retort, but the Kelia stopped me. "If you fight back, you just give them ammo. Just let it go."

"But they're being really mean…"

"I'm sorry, but this is what public school is like. There's a reason I carry around a book everywhere, they ignore me while I'm reading it."

"Someone should do something about it!"

"Like what? Making fun of someone's name isn't a crime."

"It's not right. How do you put up with it?"

"Meh, I've put up with those two for years. If you ignore them, they'll go away."

"I… I don't have that bad of a name, do I?"

"Don't let them get to you. Of course your name isn't that bad." But she said that bad. Did that mean it was still bad? Wasn't school supposed to be super amazing?

* * *

I got home, and mom was so stressed. She had been super worried about the family's decision to let me go to public school, but she was trying her best to hide it. "So? How'd it go?"

I wanted to reassure her, tell her school went perfectly, but I was still sore over the bullies at school. They bothered me all day long, maybe they thought it was funny or something. I told her about them.

But mom took it a bit far. "Oh, honey, I knew public school wasn't right for you. There are bullies like that everywhere!"

"No, mom! It isn't that bad!"

"No, no. You can't handle this yet. I knew it was a bad decision to let you go public so soon, we should start homeschooling you again"

I wasn't ready to leave my only friend. "Mom, please! Can't you give me more chance? It's only been one day, I'm sure I can work through all of this. There's no need to get hasty."

Mom eyed me for a few moments. "Okay, but if this isn't cleared up soon, I'll know you aren't ready for all of this yet."

"Thank you for giving me another chance. I promise you won't regret it!"

* * *

I went up to one of the bullies the next day and tried to talk it out with them. Maybe it could be as simple as telling them I didn't like what they were doing and they would stop. That would be nice! "Hey, just so you know, I don't like the way you make fun of my name and call me four-eyes. It's not as funny as you think it is, I just find it mean."

"Come on, it's just a joke. The way you pout when I say anything like it, it's hilarious. Really, it's nothing personal, it's not your fault your parents named you so poorly."

That angered me even more. He didn't even care that he was hurting my feelings? How dare he? "Oh, I'm going to tell the teacher on you. You're going to be in so much trouble."

"At what? That your feewings got hurt? Can't take a little fun? Anyways, it's my word against yours. Feel free to tell her, nothing's going to come out of it, four-eyes." He walked away laughing.

I wanted so badly to tell the teacher, but what if I did? Either nothing would come of it, or… what if they called my parents and told them about the bullying? Or worse, what if they thought I was lying and told mom that? And what if, because of it, they thought school was too hard for me, and this was the last straw? I couldn't let them know! I couldn't tell the teacher. So I went to class and sat down, enduring the mean whisperings behind me.

* * *

Mom, dad and I were sitting at the dinner table together. We sat in silence for a while. My mom turned and asked, "How was school?"

I told her everything was fine.

She asked "What about the bullies. Did you take care of them?"

I lied and told her that I politely asked the two of them to stop, and they realized they were hurting my feelings and did end up stopping. I told her everything was totally fine now, and I loved school, even though it wasn't, and I didn't. And from then onwards, my fate was sealed.

* * *

My memories flashed by in quick succession. All the times I was teased. How more people started joining in, how after a few months the entire class was bullying me to some extent, how I became the laughing-stock of the class, how if someone was making fun of someone, it was me, how I broke down and cried multiple times, but no one seemed to care and the bullying got even more intense, how people started stealing from me. Then, the worst of all, how one time, the two who started it even beat me up in the restroom because it was 'funny.' I was forced to shove my feelings down and show almost no emotion or else be ridiculed. I couldn't even use my full name, I shortened it down to Connie and waited for everyone to forget. I couldn't tell my parents, or they would pull me out of school and I would lose the one friend I still had. The teacher was clueless and I couldn't tell her. There was even the time I was beaten and I had to lie and say I fell down the stairs. I hated it. I hated school. I wanted it all to stop.

* * *

But on the final day of school, I had enough. If my parents found out, so what. It was all over at this point, anyways, and maybe homeschooling wasn't so bad. But I wasn't going to let the bullies last any longer. It was lunchtime, and I was talking to Kelia. She was still my only friend since I got here, she was the only reason I stayed. We were sitting together at lunch. Usually she just buried herself in a book, but I had something I wanted to tell her.

"Kelia, I've had enough. These kids have made fun of me, stolen from me, and even beaten me. I've made up my mind. I'm telling the principal, and I want you to back me up. This needs to stop."

Oddly enough, she was hesitant. "I couldn't possibly do that! Do you have any idea the size of a target that would paint on my back?"

"Don't you care about how I feel? I'm the one who's had to deal with this all year. You only have the rest of the day of school left, what do you have to lose? Me, though, I don't want my only mark I made on this school to be the act of being a punching bag. I'm going to take the bullies down."

Kelia was roused by my speech and we made our way to the principal's office, together. It was time to finally put an end to this. I didn't care what my parents said afterwards about how I lied to them, I didn't care what the bullies did to me either. I would get my revenge today.

* * *

In my memory, the principal had to face, just a white smudge. I had told the principal the whole story while Kelia stayed silent the whole time. The bullying, the teasing, the stealing, and the straight-up beating. The principal leaned back in his chair. "This is a lot to take in, Connie. If you're telling the truth, you should have told us a long time ago."

"I was afraid what might happen if I told my parents," I said.

He nodded knowingly. "Don't worry, we won't tell your parents about any of this. If this is the truth, this is very grave indeed. I'll bring in the two boys you talked about and bring them in."

* * *

We sat at the table together, Kelia and I against the two of them. They claimed they did nothing of the sort. Sure, they may have teased me a little, but they certainly never stole from me beat me up. I was slandering them! Blah, blah, blah. Finally, after a round of arguing, they said, "It's your word against ours, and we sure didn't beat you up."

I smiled an evil smile. I didn't care if revenge is supposed to suck, these liars deserved no mercy. "You claim it's my word against yours, but I have a witness. Kelia, you saw my bruises afterwards, you saw me getting stolen from in person, you know the truth. Would you please put these bullies in their place?"

Kelia looked up. She seemed to think she could stay silent the whole time and support me that way, but I was making her talk. I didn't expect it to be a problem. Come on, it was Kelia, my best friend. Of course she would take my side. She locked eyes with the bullies, who flashed a look of anger at her. She leaned forewards to speak, and then…

Kelia said, "I'm sorry, but she's lying! They never beat her up or stole from her. They tease her all the time, punish them for that. But they never beat her up or anything of the sort!" She was more scared of them then she was my friend.

I kept my eyes on her as her as a look of disgust crossed my face.

The principal looked disappointed in me. "You were lying? Well, you should enroll in our theater program, you sure convinced me! Look, this is that last day of school, this should be a happy day! Let's all forgive each other, forget this happened and go out on our merry ways. Connie doesn't get punished for lying, and these two don't get punished for unwanted teasing. Fair?"

But it wasn't fair. My revenge against the people who made my life into a living hell was stopped by my best friend. I started crying and ran out of the room. How could she have betrayed me like that? I couldn't believe it. I trusted Kelia, and she lied to save herself.

I made a promise to myself then. I would never open myself up to anyone like that ever again. Even the principal was my enemy, the one supposed to be the moderator doing a horrid job just because it's the last day of school. I would never put my full trust in anybody, so if they ended up betraying me I wouldn't be surprised. And I suppressed that year of my life so I would never think about it ever again. The next year, I transferred schools and I kept my head down. I made sure no one would notice me, for better or for worse. No one could make fun of me if they didn't notice me at all. I distracted myself with books, tennis, and violin so I wouldn't have time to think about anything or anyone anymore. And I made sure to never make any friends, since friendships did nothing but hurt you.

I never spoke to Kelia again.

* * *

The purple hourglass appeared before me again, spinning in the center of my vision and reattaching itself to my palm. Now, though, the symbol was crystal clear. It was a sideways hourglass that also formed an infinity sign. In one half of the sign sat me, and the other half sat Steven, both lying in a pile of sand. The sides of the hourglass were made of what seemed to be chain. Steven's side border of the hourglass was a pink gem while mine was a purple gem. And at the narrowest point of the hourglass sat Stevonnie.

I put turned my hand into a fist and brought it downwards to see Steven staring at me. "Connie, I am so, so sorry about what happened to you. I had no idea… that memory, it never showed up when we were fused. I know you said that you never made a single friend, but I thought-"

"That I meant I never even started a friendship? Oh, that wasn't friendship. That was being taken advantage of. And I'm sorry you had to see that. This stupid bond. Just when we think we know everything, another thing turns up we have to solve."

"You think I care about the infinity link? I care about you. Connie, you just relived the worst moment of your entire life."

"It wasn't that bad…" I said, but I knew it was halfhearted.

Steven looked me in the eye. "Do you really not trust anyone anymore?"

I noticed tears were streaming down my face. "No, Steven." I said. "I trust you."

Steven answered with a hug. And it was the best hug I had ever received. I cried into his shoulder, and he just took it. It didn't matter to him, he was crying on me as well. His tears healed my wounds from the battle with the Cerburus, and my tears healed his wounds as well. I knew I shouldn't be able to do that, the healing tears were his thing, but I didn't care.

The door to the temple opened and Pearl and Garnet, now joined by Amethyst, all of which visibly shaken, stepped out of the temple to see the two of us hugging and crying simultaneously. Pearl, even though she was shocked by whatever Garnet had told her, put that aside to care for us. Pearl really is the best. "Oh no, is this about Garnet's secret? I promise the two of you it'll be okay, Garnet has good reason to keep this from you. Please, you don't have to cry, we can reveal-"

"No explinations. Can I just say, I'm sorry," Garnet said.

The two of us came out of our embrace to look at each other. Simultaneously, we burst into laughter. "Oh, yeah, I totally forgot about that!" I said.

"Me too. It seemed so important at the time," Steven said. "Yeah, we forgive you, Garnet."

All three of them were very confused. "You weren't thinking about Garnet? Then what were you thinking about?"

"Nothing much," Steven said. "I just got sucked into Connie's memories that she had been suppressing for a long time and we shared a heartfelt moment. Am I forgetting anything? Oh, yeah, the symbols on our palms cleared up. I think that's about it, nothing too major."

Pearl's mouth hung open for a second before she recomposed herself. "Can we leave you kids alone for 5 minutes without something like this happening?" Pearl said.

"It was more like three," Garnet said.

Amethyst smiled. "I told you, Garnet. Give them three minutes and they could build a warp to homeworld with nothing but the items you could find in a kitchen pantry."

Garnet wanted to keep playing along, but shook her head suddenly. "You two, stop. No more games. I need to apologize to you guys. Don't play it off like it's no big deal, because it is. For keeping yet another secret from you. For still keeping the secret from you, because I can't even tell you now."

"Garnet, it's fine. We all keep secrets, sometimes for a good reason," Steven said with a knowing look towards me. "But… could you please give us some alone time? I'm sure the three of you need to discuss the whatever huge secret thing. But I need to talk with Connie, she needs it."

Garnet gave us a good, long stare. Finally, she shook her head. "You two really are perfect together. Better than even me." And without explaining whatever she meant by that, she walked back into the temple. Pearl and Amethyst frantically followed suit.

Steven turned to me. "So, where were we?"

"Were me maybe about to discuss why I have healing tears like you do? Maybe what the symbol on our hands meant? And we never went over the telepathy thing from the room."

"No, I don't think any of those are it.."

"Maybe we were philosophically discussing what my memories meant and how I could better myself. Were we fulfilling our heartfelt speech quota, perhaps?"

"No, that's not it, either."

"Maybe we were just sitting and enjoying our other's company, our emotion the only thing the other needed."

"I think you hit the nail right on the head."

And so, without even exchanging words that we would do so in the first place, the two of us went outside and climbed up on the roof to watch the approaching sunset together. We held hands, my symbol against his. I knew I would have to deal with Kelia eventually, but for now, it wasn't important. We sat there together, not dealing with all of the things and issues with our lives and just took in nature, our emotions being the only thing the other needed.

* * *

 _A/N: You know, I could probably make a whole fic out of this part of the story. I might still do so. For now, though, behold the coup de gras of what happens the characters in your story don't follow the author's instructions. Yeah, would you believe this whole thing was made up on the spot? I impress myself sometimes._

 _Oh, and if there are any inconsistencies with the show in the backstory, it doesn't really matter. This is my fic, I can make minor alterations to the plot._

 _By the way, keep the reviews coming! I don't really care about how many total reviews end up on the story and popularity and whatnot, that's not why I want them. To tell you the truth, I'm petty. If I get a bunch of reviews for a chapter, it tells me people care about my fic, and it totally boosts my ego. Yes, even the negative ones, because it means people care enough about the quality they would give their own advice. So, if you don't want to wait another week for a new chapter, I guess you have no choice but to send reviews. Okay, I'm kidding a bit. If you want to review, awesome, and if not because you're too busy, I understand. I probably wouldn't feel the need to type out a review, myself. Still, to anyone out there who loves the story and wants to know how they can help me make them quicker, just show you care about it and spend a minute typing out a review, that's good enough for me. Heck, spend five minutes on a more thoughtful review and I'd be overjoyed. Whatever the case, I love y'all viewers. I wouldn't have the motivation to write without you. Hey, and if you recommended this to your friends, the more readers the merrier. That's another way you could help. But now I'm just promoting, so I'll stop._

 _Next time: We get some dual wielding training with Pearl. You know, another story happening within a few days Of Giant Woman. We're going to do a huge time-skip forwards soon, I swear! After this, I plan to skip directly to mirror gem, I have some cool plot stuffs happening then. Well, maybe after a montage of all the missing episodes, of course, that's a gimmie. And indirect kiss might be interesting to do as well. And if we're just including all episodes with Connie in them, I have to include Lion 2. And wow, monster buddies is before mirror gem? I never realized. Guess I gotta do that…_

 _Well, we'll reach Mirror gem eventually…_


	12. Connie: Dual Wielding extraordinaire!

**Connie: Dual-Wielding Extraordinaire!**

Normally, Steven and I eat breakfast together, without the gems. Sometimes Amethyst might join, but it's usually it's just the two of us unless Steven begs the others to eat with us.

Today, we went over to the breakfast table to see both Pearl and Amethyst already sitting there. Pearl gave a wide smile. "Hey, kids. The two of us are going to be joining you for breakfast! We thought it would be an effective way for all of us to hang out." I think Pearl thought she was being subtle about it, but it was obvious something was wrong. Pearl's awesome and all, but she's not one to seek interaction with us. Steven's usually the one who makes the first move, and she certainly wouldn't join us for no reason other than to hang out.

"Okay, what is it, guys?" I said.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Pearl said. "We just all decided to go and have breakfast with you today."

"Come on, Pearl, what are you doing here," Steven said.

Pearl sighed. "What clued you in?"

"For one, you _never_ say 'hang out'"

Amethyst sighed. "I told you, Pearl, we just should've been direct. No offense, but you're not subtle. I could've done it alone."

"Yeah, but none of your ideas are ever very good. Besides, I can't trust you to be subtle."

"Yeah, you did a _great_ job being casual without me."

"Guys, is this about yesterday?" I said, interrupting their argument. "We already told you, we're over it. We have more important things to worry about.'

Amethyst waved her hand. "Nah, we wouldn't bring this up if you didn't. We don't want to think about it either. If you're fine with it, no reason to keep bringing it up."

"Amethyst! Could you not be so open about this?" Pearl said.

"I thought I was supposed to be open about everything," Amethyst said.

"Ugh!" Pearl said. "I'll deal with you later. Look, I wanted to talk to you about all the stuff that's been happening during the last few days, your new 'powers.' For some reason, in the last few days, things have been going very fast. The last time it was this bad was when you got linked in the first place! So, I want to take inventory, if you will."

"Wait… is that all you wanted to talk about?" I said. "Then what was with the secrecy? You could have just told us that in the first place, we would've been happy to help."

"P thought it would be better to make 'casual conversation,'" Amethyst said. "She thought it would be better to make light conversation and somehow segue into talking about your last few days. She's just _really_ bad at it."

"Amethyst, you're being kind of rude," Pearl said.

Before I could warn her, Amethyst said, "What? It was just a joke."

I suddenly felt an intense rush of anger coming from Steven. I didn't know where it came from, it had been a fairly normal response from Amethyst. But he was angrier than I think he ever had been in the past. His eyes lit up with rage. "Amethyst, take it back. Now."

Amethyst was a bit concerned. "Whoa, what's wrong, buddy?"

Steven stayed furious. "You don't see what's wrong? You're heartless. What if you're really hurting Pearl and she's too afraid to say anything? What if she's harboring resentment deep down but you just can't see it? So take it back right now or so help me-"

"Woah, Steven, calm down!" I said. Now I saw why he was so angry. "I get that you're worried about me, but you don't need to take it out on Amethyst. I'm sure Pearl's fine, the two of them fight all the time."

Steven was taken back by his own anger. He covered his mouth and his eyes widened. "Oh my gosh. I am so sorry, Amethyst! I totally overreacted," he said. I felt a wave of embarrassment come from him.

"Hey, it's okay, buddy, I forgive you," Amethyst said. "Just warn me if you freak out like that again.

Pearl was incredibly confused. "Wait, could somebody please tell me why Steven was so mad at Amethyst again? Why did Connie think he was worried about her? What's going on?"

I wanted to give an explanation about yesterday, but it brought back waves of painful memories. I brought up my palm and looked at it, the infinity hourglass. I turned it into a fist and brought it downwards. "I'd rather not talk about it.," I said.

Sensing my sadness, Amethyst said, "It's okay, we're cool, we don't have to talk if we don't want to. And if I hurt your feelings, by the way, I'm sorry, Pearl. We all cool?"

"I'm fine, Amethyst. But I accept your apology," Pearl said.

I nodded. The past was in the past, I was ready to move on. Steven felt the same. "It's okay, guys," I said. "Enough crying, you wanted us to fill you in the next few days, right?"

"Are you sure you're okay?" Pearl said.

"You don't need to be this protective of me, I'm fine." I took a bite out of my food, remembering I was supposed to be eating breakfast. "So, the two of you already know what happened with the giant bird after the warp exploded, yes?"

Amethyst nodded, but Pearl shook her head. "Garnet said you would tell it better. She said that the way you told the story was brilliant," Pearl said.

I blushed a little. "She said that? Sorry, Steven, but you're going to have to sit this one out. It's up to me to tell the epic story of how I singlehandedly defeated the giant bird of destiny!"

Pearl said, "Wait, singlehandedly? Surely, Steven was there with you, there's no need to exaggerate."

Amethyst rubbed her hands together. "Oooh, this reaction is gonna be priceless."

I cleared my throat. "The three of us stepped into the warp, all feeling safe. We were just a single portal away from home. But the bird had other plans…"

* * *

Pearl had many questions throughout, but I asked her to wait until the to ask them. After a reprise of "Brick and Mortar, Stone and Spit" at Amethyst's request, and describing how Steven activated the warp, I thought it was a decent stopping point to ask for questions.

Pearl was a bit concerned. "Steven's powers are moving forwards so quickly now. He only first summoned his mother's shield a few months ago, now he has healing spit, can activate warps, and can bubble, as well as all the other stuff that's happened earlier?"

"Oh, you haven't heard the half of it," I said, planning to go into our adventures in Rose's room.

Pearl held up her hands. "Okay, one thing at a time. You singlehandedly defeated that bird, Connie? You dual-wielded your swords successfully, something someone of your skill level shouldn't have been able to do in the first place, at least not against the swarm of birds you described. It took me a good thousand years to master dual-wielding."

"I was fighting for Steven," I said simply.

"Whatever the reason, it was impressive," Pearl said. "We're going to need to train and see if you still have that skill when you're not fighting for your lives."

"And that excellently segues into what happened the very next day, how Stevonnie ended up bruised and passed out on the couch. But first, shouln't Garnet be here for this? She hasn't heard this part of the story yet."

Pearl and Amethyst exchanged a glance I knew all too well, considering all the times Steven and I have exchanged similar glances. "We can tell her later," Pearl said. "Please, continue."

Steven said, "Garnet's still beating herself up about yesterday, isn't she?"

"Yeah…" Pearl said.

"Well," I said, "when you do talk with her again, could you tell her again we don't blame her for keeping secrets from us? That wasn't just a statement made because we had better things to think about, it's the truth. I'm sure she has really good reason to keep these things from us, like she had good reason to keep the future vision."

"Good reason is an understatement…" Amethyst said.

"Anyways!" Pearl said. "You were going to tell us about your experience yesterday."

I figured it was best for me to let it go. The two of us went on to describe our experience in the room, describing how we solved the mystery of the time-stop thing, how I got a lot better at dual-wielding, and how Steven even summoned his shield again. They had questions to ask, but I had them wait until after I talked about the part where we relived my past memories as well. I wanted to get it over with, there was a reason I suppressed them in the first place. I didn't give the specifics, just the fact we got sucked into my memories through the mark on our hands, and they were painful. Finally, I showed the two of them the symbol on my palm, how it was now fully fleshed out. Finally, I asked for questions.

Pearl leaned in closely and examined my mark. "This is an hourglass. What does that mean? Hourglasses represent time, right? It does seem to give you time dilation powers when you're near death. This is so confusing!"

"Pearl, didn't we stop trying to explain this a long time ago?" Steven said.

"I know. I just wish I knew why everything was happening so quickly all of a sudden. A month of nothing happening, then all this within two days? This is all so illogical."

I smiled. "Maybe it isn't," I said.

"It isn't?" Pearl, Amethyst, and Steven said at the same time.

"Think about it," I said. "Every single time something like this has happened: the warp, the inexplicable sword skills, the time-stop, the shield, and even the when I relived my memories. Every time it was triggered by strong emotion."

"That would make sense," Pearl said. "Rose's powers were always triggered by emotion as well, that's why she was usually so open about her emotions. That explains Steven's powers, anyways. But why would the infinity link be triggered the same way?"

"I don't know that much. I was just saying it wasn't illogical that all of this was happening so quickly. There've been intense emotions all around, it would make sense stuff like this would awaken now of all times."

Amethyst then stepped in with a question I didn't expect. "Why does your side of the hourglass have an Amethyst bordering it?" I looked at the symbol. One side of the hourglass had a Rose Quarts stopper and Steven inside, but the other one, the one with me in it, had a purple gem. Was it an really an Amethyst? What was it doing there?

Pearl looked at it. "No, this isn't an Amethyst. It's similar, but it's a different gem. I honestly can't tell what kind of gem it is!"

"Why would I have a gem on my side at all?" I said. "I'm just a human."

"I'm sure we'll get the answers eventually," Steven said.

"You think I don't know that?" I said. "I'm not even frustrated at this point. I don't think any of us even get frustrated about new mysteries at this point."

Pearl grabbed a piece of paper. "We should make a list of all the stuff the two of you can do. I'm getting confused."

Amethyst sighed with exasperation. "It's only, like ten things. Do we really need a list?"

"Yes, we do. This way, we'll have a way to easily do certain tests and we'll know how close we are to solving the mystery."

"Then I'm out," Amethyst said. "Have fun, you two. See you in a few hours, when Pearl's finally done!" She walked out of the room.

"Are you _sure_ this is necessary, Pearl?" Steven said.

"Now, don't you start. Let's start from the beginning, shall we? That would be the pulling sensation, right? Or maybe we should put Steven's powers, too, that would include Rose's shield. But if we separated it, where would we put fusion? Hmm, the questions, the questions!"

The two of us sighed. Amethyst was right, this was gonna take a while.

* * *

In the end, we came out with this list:

-(Always active, infinity link's fault)

-Physical pulling

-Emotional connection

-Mark on hand, an infinity hourglass?

-(Likely Steven's powers)

-Bubble

-Shield (only occasionally)

-Warping

-Fusing w/ Connie (Might be Infinity link)

-Floating? (Only done while fused)

-Healing spit

-Healing tears? Connie might have them?

-(Probably the infinity link's fault)

-Telepathy (Sometimes)

-Fusion (Might be Steven's gem's fault)

-Freezing time while nearing death

-Time when minds merged together into Stevonnie

-Seeing directly into memories

-Similar to ^, slightly shared memories

-Warps explode when only one enters. Bad!

* * *

I looked at the last entry. "Really, Pearl. "Bad!" No, I didn't notice,"

"Well, we have to remember that so it doesn't happen again," Pearl said.

"I really doubt we'll forget it just because we don't write it on the chart," Steven said.

"Fine, don't appreciate my hard work."

"This chart took us an hour to make. No chart is worth that," I said.

"Oh, hush. Now we have a handy guide for the future."

We stood there for a second. "So… what now?" I said.

"Oh, yes. Next up on the adgenda is…" Pearl pulled out a second list from her pocket. "Ah, yes, we needed to catch up on training."

"What's with the list?" I said.

Amethyst called from the other room, "It's to distract you from your quote unquote way you now hate Garnet and never want to see her again.

"Amethyst, I thought you were back at the temple," Pearl called back. "Go away."

"All righty then," Amethyst said. "Good luck dealing with Pearl when I'm not here to keep her in check. Go, infinity duo!" Amethyst said as she wandered off to who knows where.

Pearl shook her head. "Where was I? Oh, yes. I want to see how good you are at using two swords, Connie. If you're as good as you claim, I might need to find you another sword to compliment your own."

"No, you might need to find me another one," Steven said. "Connie's amazing with my own sword."

I shrugged. "What can I say, it's well-balanced."

Pearl nodded. "Either way, we'll need a new sword for one of you. But I'm not simply doing what I did last time. Last time, I just picked out the swords for you, but you're both more experienced at this point. So I thought I should let you into my personal armory so you could try it out some swords for yourself. Could you two follow me into my room? My armory's in there." It was my second time going to her room, but I was still excited. This was Pearl's private armory. Do much could happen!

(Line)

I was boring. That's the punchline, alright? Honestly, I'm going to cut this part out. I thought it was going to be interesting, but it basically just consisted of taking a sword from its scabbard, Steven holding it, maybe even swinging it a few times, Pearl shaking her head, Steven putting it back, and repeating for an eternity. She didn't even find one she liked.

"I don't get it. Why are those two swords the only swords in my entire armory that the two of you can use?" Pearl finally said.

I thought about that. Was there anything special about those two swords? "Oh!" I said. "Steven, did we ever mention the thing that happened with the swords when we fused into Stevonnie?"

Steven nodded rapidly. "Oh, yeah, I totally forgot about that while we were telling the story. Yeah, the room made me a sword. Then, after we fused, it somehow fused with these the two swords we have right now into one uber-sword."

Pearl cocked her head. "That's strange, the two swords you two hold are completely unrelated. Did you maybe wish the third sword had the ability to combine with the other two?"

"That's the weirdest part, we didn't do anything of the sort. Rose's room is so weird," Steven said.

Pearl shook her head adamantly. "The room would never do something you didn't wish for. Could you describe the sword in more detail perhaps? That might give us a clue." I slumped down. Great, _another_ question-fest

Steven said, "I don't know, it was pink. It was about the size of our swords, and it wasn't anything special. I don't remember exactly what it looked like. It was just your traditional straight-bladed sword you might find in your armory. It didn't look like it had the power to lock into other swords, it just kind of happened. I just asked the room for a sword at cloud-Pearl's request, and it gave me that one."

"Strange. Maybe we could have another visit to you mom's room to see if we could recreate it-"

I couldn't take it any longer. Enough sitting around and talking about what exactly our powers meant, enough watching Steven try out a bunch of different swords. It was just SOOOOOOO boring. I didn't care about any of this. Steven only slightly cared. So… I may have made a bit of a brash decision. And by that I mean I screamed and charged Pearl, attacking with two swords without warning. I was bored, okay? Besides, I knew she could block it, which she did. But it was closer than I thought it would be.

Pearl was more than a little angry. "Connie? What in the name of the Diamonds would possess you to attack me like that?"

"I…" I started.

Steven was also worried for a second, but then he saw into my memories. "She was bored," Steven deadpanned. Okay, it's times like this that remind me that it sometimes sucks to have someone who can see into your emotions.

"Really, Connie? Bored?" Pearl said.

"It was a… bit of an overreaction," I said.

"A bit? You were inches away from poofing me again! Although, I have to commend you on doing that much, you wouldn't have gotten inches away when you started. Actually, who cares if you were good at it. You shouldn't have done what you did. It was irresponsible."

"Sorry, Pearl…"

Pearl, though, she didn't seem that angry. "Now, if you had asked to dual me, maybe… well, if it's a dual you want, it's a dual you'll get."

I took a step back. "Um, I don't think I'm ready. I'm sorry, I never should've attacked like I did. There's no need to get rash." I didn't want to fight Pearl. Even if I was decent, she was still so much better than me.

"No, no, you initiated the first strike. I'm just retaliating."

I realized there was no way out of this. I knew Pearl well enough that I knew there was no way out of this one without being utterly humiliated by her in a duel. "Fine, let's get this over with. Steven, are you okay with staying behind me? You don't exactly have a sword…"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'll have a front row seat!"

I sighed. Normally, I just fight Holo-Pearls, they aren't that great fighters. But Pearl, she was in a league of her own. "Okay, let's do this thing."

The dual commenced. Then came the hardest part. The first move. Pearl drilled it into our skulls, be very careful before you strike. Study your enemy, look for weaknesses. Pearl had her gem, but I would never strike that. Otherwise, I wouldn't know her weaknesses until I initiated combat. Well, if I was done appraising Pearl, I wasn't going to let Pearl finish appraising me. I launched into a fake all-out assault. I pretended to put all of my drive into this frontal attack, but in truth I was saving my energy. Pearl, of course, easily blocked my two swords with her one, it wasn't even a contest. Her defense was even better than Steven's.

I tried to catch her off guard. I weakened my defenses on purpose, faking an opening. I didn't expect Pearl to fall for it, which made it even more surprising when she did. Unfortunately. I say that because I knew I could never capitalize on such a thing again. Still, I would at least try and capitalize on it this once. I easily closed the gap in my defense with one sword and still had the other free. It wasn't easy to trick Pearl, of course, and I didn't put it past her to fake falling for my fake hole in my defense and still be ready to block. Still, I only had one chance to use the trick and I wasn't going halfway. I instantly brought my other sword in for the kill, stopping right before the neck. My biggest surprise is that it actually worked, she would've been dead if I hadn't stopped. I lowered my sword.

Pearl smiled. "You know I'll never fall for that again."

"Yep. Doesn't change the fact that it's 1-0."

"I admit, I underestimated you. Don't expect me to do it again."

Pearl struck forward without warning and I had no time to react. She stopped right before her sword reached my heart. "Now it's 1-1," she said.

And so, it went on. We couldn't do anything too flashy, anything like all of the stunts and such you see in the movies, considering Steven was still chained to me. We were pretty much stuck facing each other, no fancy footwork at all. It hurt me, of course, but it also hurt Pearl. She was used to going expertly around her opponents, not face-to-face combat. It was interesting. Fighting with feet firmly planted, unyielding. No tricks about going around the opponent, just straight up reaction-time and skill. I definitely had the innate advantage weapon-wise, since I had twice the firepower, but Pearl was a much better fighter. It was actually a pretty even fight. After another narrow victory on my part, Pearl had an idea.

"Wow, you've improved so much you're a whole new fighter! I like your approach, slowly chipping me away. I expected this to be learning experience for you, but you're really a challenging opponent. But… this isn't exactly a fair fight, is it?"

"What do you mean?"

"You've never dealt with two swords at once, have you?" She grabbed another sword from her collection and put it in her left hand. "Now's the time to learn."

I gulped. There went my one advantage. Once again, we fought each other. But it was like I was fighting a whole new fighter! Oddly, one with a little _less_ skill. She wasn't very practiced with using two swords. I mean, she was still a million times more practiced than me, likely literally, but I at least stood a better chance. By that, of course, I meant it took her a whole ten seconds to trounce me. I forgot I was facing a fellow dual-sword fighter, overcommitted on an assault, and Pearl capitalized on it. The score was 2-2, even once again. But I didn't even mind if I was losing. I was lasting any amount of time whatsoever against Pearl. _Pearl, of all people!_

We faced each other for the final tiebreaker match. I didn't really expect to win, but I was gonna last as long as I could.

I decided to play it safe. I just blocked whatever Pearl threw at me, for now, not giving any way to get in. I was appraising her in a way, looking for faults in her technique. And I saw an opening in Pearl's defenses. Every time, after she performed a thrust, she had a tiny gap I knew she couldn't reach in time.

That being said, I didn't go for it. I knew Pearl well enough to know it was a faint. I fainted towards the gap to test it, and sure enough it was closed by the time my sword would've reached it. I smiled. "Just because you fell for it doesn't mean I'm stupid enough to as well," I said.

"Don't get cocky," Pearl said.

As the battle continued, I started going more and more offensive. I did riskier maneuvers, going high with one sword and low with another. If she saw it coming, I was done for. But she never knew just where my next strike was coming from, so she could never prepare. I wore her down a little bit more.

Then, while I was in mid swing in the middle of another maneuver, time froze for a second, literally. As I brought my sword downwards to meet Pearl's sword, for just a second, everything slowed down to a near-stop. It was a feeling I recognized.

Time went back to normal, and as I parried Pearl's strike, Steven and I said simultaneously, "Stop the duel!" I wasn't sure why Steven had been so quiet during the rest of the duel, but there was no time to think about that, now.

Pearl stepped back, confused. "What's wrong?"

"Freezing time! 30 seconds!" Steven said, as efficiently as possible.

It took Pearl a second to understand. I felt a sharp pain on the mark on my hand. It threw my sword to the floor and looked at it. My hand now was now sideways, thumb up, causing the hourglass to no longer be on its side. The whole mark glowed purple and the hourglass was ticking downwards.

Pearl realized what I had meant. "You're telling me you might die in 30 seconds? What's going to happen?"

"How should I know? All I know is that we're going to be in danger soon, it doesn't tell us more than that. Oh, and now it's 15 seconds!"

The hourglass ticked down.

 _10… 9… 8…_ The three of us stood back-to-back-to-back, ready for whatever was about to happen.

 _7… 6…_ _5…_ The sand was almost out.

 _4... 3…_ We're ready.

 _2…_ My heart was racing.

 _1…_ Nothing except for pure concentration.

…

…

And… nothing. Absolutely nothing happened. The mark stopped glowing and the sand in the hourglass reset back to neutral, lying on its side. I turned my hand so the rest of my fingers faced upwards, making it an infinity sign once again.

Pearl looked around. "So, what's going to happen? I counted to thirty."

"I guess… we already averted it?" I said.

"Yeah, we really have no way of knowing. But… what if…" Steven said.

"What is it?" Pearl said.

"It's nothing," Steven said, a little too quickly.

I heard a voice. _But it might be true. What if the dual would've caused our deaths?_

I realized what Steven had been thinking of. "Steven, you might be onto something," I said.

"What?" he said back, clearly confused.

"Oh, sorry," I said. "I think I heard your thoughts again."

Steven understood. "Look, I'm sure I'm wrong. Something else might've caused it-"

"Steven, haven't we learned from Garnet what lying to someone can do? You're probably right with your assessment."

"What are you two talking about?" Pearl said.

Steven looked at Pearl. "Pearl, I think that somehow, during your duel, you would've killed one of us. By accident, I'm sure, but that's the only explanation I can think of."

I quickly backed him up. "I'm sure you didn't mean to! I accidentally got too into a training session and stabbed Steven in our minds. I don't blame you. But I can't think of any other explanation…"

Pearl was still incredibly concerned. "Do you think I really would've… accidentally stabbed you?"

Steven and I exchanged an uneasy look. "Well, maybe," Steven said, rubbing the back of his neck. "You might've forgotten you were fighting Connie and not a holo-Pearl and went too far. But you also might've accidentally pushed us off the edge or something. Or maybe she might've dodged out of the way and you would've hit me! I doubt you would've done it on purpose. We really have no way of knowing what would've happened."

"Could I have really been so reckless?" Pearl said, seemingly ignoring what Steven had just said.

"Pearl, come on. We already said we don't blame you. So, stop beating yourself up about it. Besides, we're fine, aren't we?" Steven said.

"But what if you hadn't seen it coming? What if you couldn't stop the duel?"

"What if nothing!" I said. "You know nothing happened."

"But if what you said is true, I might've been responsible for your deaths?

"Pearl, look at me," I said.

"What-"

"No talking, just looking. So, do you see a single scratch on me? That's an honest question. Do you see even one? No? Good, because there isn't one. Nothing you did harmed us, it was prevented. Who knows what might've happened, because it didn't. The alternate past is in the alternate past, it's time to move on."

Pearl looked me in the eye. "You're sure you're okay?"

"Of course!" Steven said. "We were just sorting out the facts, not trying to criminalize you. Alternate futures are irrelevant if they don't end up happening in the first place."

Pearl still looked a bit shell shocked, but at least she was better than she was before. "You're right." She tried to change the subject. "So… you still owe me a match." She said.

"Nope, not going that far," I said. "I've had enough dueling for the day. Let's say you won and call it a day."

"But the score was 2-2! It was even." Pearl said.

"You took it easy on me round one, round two didn't even count, and round three was completely unfair, two swords against one. The only round that counted was round four, which you won by a mile." I said.

"No, I would say both rounds one and three counted. Round one because you outsmarted me and round three because you out skilled me. Your unpredictability won the battle, not your two swords. And I have to say, this has been one of my best duals in decades, you sure know how to stay unpredictable. And because of that, I think would say you won," Pearl said.

Steven shook his head. "Can't you two just settle for a tie?" he said. Back to our good old dynamic between the three of us, no more avoiding some incident or trying to make a bunch of lists.

* * *

After that, we all headed out of the temple. Pearl still seemed eager to make up for her past mistakes. Her alternate past mistakes? Whatever. "Is there any chance I could help you with anything else?"

"Pearl, it's fine. You don't have to keep trying to please us. Besides, I already knew the danger when I came here. I'd rather be here sword-fighting with you than be learning some meaningless math and history in school."

Pearl's eyes lit up. "Oh! If you wanted, you could learn history here and now. I mean, human history is so unimportant. Just a bunch of people fighting meaningless wars over who gets what part of this rock. No offense to your species of course. But if you want to learn about the real history of this planet, I have just the thing."

Pearl tapped on her gem and a small ball of light appeared, forming into a mirror with a small blue gem on its back. I grabbed the mirror from the air. For a second, I swore I saw the hourglass symbol flash on its surface, but I must've been imagining things.

Pearl said, "You want to know everything you can? This is the Lapis Mirror, it'll tell you everything you could ever want to know about ancient gem culture."

* * *

A _/N: The cliffhangers are real. I should do one of these every chapter._

 _Sorry about the slower first half of the chapter. I needed the characters to debrief, and I wasn't great at it. Hopefully the more interesting second half was worth the wait. And I hope the ending is getting you plenty hype for the next chapter._

 _So, I have a question about the story. Up until now, it's been tagged as an Adventure/Mystery. Do you think that's accurate? I'm honestly curious, because I'm not sure if I should change it. Are there enough feels to include hurt/comfort? Is there enough comedy for the comedy tag? Is it fine the way it is, is the mystery enough? Heck, is there enough adventure to include the adventure tag? Honestly, I want to tag my story to be accurate, and I might have trouble tagging my fic objectively. So I figured that my best way to figure it out would be to ask you guys. Feel free to tell me, though a review or PM, what you think it should be tagged with, and I just might go with the consensus, if there is one._

 _As always, reviews are appreciated above all else, spread the fame, spread the love, and have a nice day._

 _Next time: No jokes, we're doing mirror gem. I know these chapters are happening out of order, and I'm fine with that. As I've said, my philosophy is that if it's the same as the original, it isn't worth reading. Some momswap stories have that problem, and I'm not falling into that trap. Anyways, I know exactly what's happening next chapter. And as you saw with two chapters ago, when I have a specific idea, you should be very afraid. See you guys then…_


	13. Mirror Gem

**Mirror Gem**

"This mirror should be able to show you whatever you want to know about the history of the gems, or at least whatever it's seen," Pearl said.

"Wow, that's amazing!" Steven said.

"We found it at the galaxy warp a while back," Pearl said, "and I've been planning on giving it to you for a while."

"What should we ask for first?" I said.

"As I said, we found it at the galaxy warp. You haven't seen that yet, have you, Connie?"

"No, ma'am, we haven't been there yet," I said. I wonder just how many gem locations there are that I haven't seen yet!

"Then that seems like a good place to start. Mirror, show us the galaxy warp!" Pearl said.

We waited a few seconds, and nothing happened.

"Mirror, the galaxy warp," Pearl said, a little more frustrated.

Still, nothing.

"Is it supposed to take this long?" Steven said.

"No, no," Pearl said, "it should've shown it by now. I know the mirror's seen it! We found it there! I hope it's not broken, it has been a few thousand years."

I wasn't ready to give up on it, though. "Mirror, would you _please_ show us the galaxy warp? It would be so nice to finally see such a masterpiece of gem architecture. I hope that isn't too much to ask for."

"Come on, Connie, just because you ask nicely doesn't mean it'll work any better," Pearl said.

She was quickly proven wrong, however, when the mirror shown and showed the galaxy warp in all of its glory. I had to say, it was beautiful, like all the ancient gem structures were. Even if it was basically just a bigger warp, the stuff around it was beautiful. I'm honestly surprised they aren't more well-documented online or anything!

Pearl eyed the mirror in my hands suspiciously. "It shouldn't be able to do that… It's meant to follow orders, nothing more. So why did it care about politeness?"

"Pearl, I thought we were just ignoring these mysteries," I said.

"But this mirror is completely unrelated to you two. It shouldn't have any mysteries. Could I have it back to examine it?"

"Aw, Pearl," Steven said. "I'm sure it's no big deal. This thing looks so cool. Besides, what could possibly happen if you let us keep it for a single day?"

Pearl sighed. "I'm sure you're right," Pearl said. "I guess I'm just being a bit too cautious. After the past few days, who wouldn't be?"

Steven grabbed my hand. "No prob, Pearl! Come on, let's go see what our new gem gadget can do!" He dragged me out the door and into town.

Pearl rolled her eyes. "Have fun, you two! And be safe!"

"I've endured fights with numerous monsters," I said. "What could possibly happen today?"

* * *

"So, what do we do with it?" I said. "We can't exactly ask it to detail historical events if we don't know what historical events to ask about."

"What if we asked about that one battle that took place in the strawberry fields! That'd be cool to see," Steven said.

"I don't know, didn't Garnet say it was a "Maelstrom of chaos and death" or something like that?" I said.

Steven thought on that for a second. " _Maybe_ you're right. I guess I just don't know anything else having to do with gem history."

"Maybe we could ask the mirror. Hey, mirror! Could you show us some sort of other gem structure you've seen?" I realized that might have seemed a bit rude. "I'm sorry mirror, what I meant was, could you please show us something cool about the history of the gems? I'm sure you've seen a ton of cool stuff, and you're dying to show us something. So it would be super nice if you could show off something."

The mirror rippled for a second, then showed us a place I had never seen before. It seemed to be some sort of floating structure in the sky like most other gem structures. Of course, it was beautiful, like all the other gem structures. It was a sort of floating castle in the sky, the whole thing a brilliant blue and green.

"It's beautiful! What is it?" Steven said.

"Too bad the mirror can't tell us. I guess we'll have to ask Pearl later."

I didn't see it at the time, but Steven was still watching the mirror but as I brought the mirror downwards. It rippled again. It formed an image it had seen before, my face, and distorted it so much that letters started forming.

Steven saw that much. "Look at the mirror, Connie!" he said.

I saw the mirror distort into a strange text I didn't recognize myself.

"Is this some sort of gem dialect?" Steven said.

"I don't know. Probably, since it is a gem artifact, after all. It makes sense it would display gem texts."

The mirror shifted again and Steven and I watching in awe. The text changed into brilliant blue English characters: "The Sky Sanctuary"

"It knows English!" Steven said.

"Duh," I said. "I wonder where it learned it. We should ask Pearl what else this mirror can do!"

"No, but Pearl might take it away from us!" Steven said.

"I'm sure it would be fine," I said. "Besides, think of all the other cool stuff we could do if we knew what it was capable-"

"No!" Steven said.

A bit startled, I said, "Well, that was a bit abdrupt. It's only Pearl, what could go wrong?"

Steven was equally startled, though. "I… didn't say anything."

"It was telepathy, then? I didn't even notice, I'm sorry," I said.

"No, it wasn't telepathy, either." Steven said. "I heard it, too. Could it have… been the mirror?"

The mirror rippled to become an image of myself. "You're right," The mirror said.

"It talks!" I said.

The image back up and repeated, "You're right."

"This is amazing!" Steven said.

"It's like some sort of AI! I wonder why Pearl didn't know that," I said. Then, I had an idea. "Hey mirror, when Pearl first summoned you, you flashed a symbol. Could you perhaps show it again?"

The mirror showed nothing for a second. It finally said showed my face saying, "What?"

"Connie, what are you talking about?" Steven said.

"As the mirror came out, I swore I saw an infinity symbol on it. Maybe I was mistaken."

"Probably," the mirror said.

Steven wasn't convinced. "Connie, you're never 'mistaken.' I think you saw something real."

"Mirror, are you _sure_ you haven't seen this symbol before?" I said, holding up my hand.

The mirror paused for a second again, like it was concentrating. "Yes and no" The mirror said, splicing together snippets we had said recently.

"It created something new!" Steven said. "Could it always do that?"

"I don't know! This thing's really cool," I said. "No wonder Pearl always carried it around with her. Anyways, what did it mean by yes and no?"

The mirror didn't answer with speaking this time. It warped and twisted into letters again. "Can see what the Pearl sees."

"That's kind of rude," Steven said. "She's not 'the Pearl,' just 'Pearl' would be nice."

"Never mind that," I said. "Is that why Pearl had it stored in her gem? So, you've seen it through her eyes or something?"

"You're right," the mirror said.

"Oh, then you've seen the mark before then, because I know Pearl has. If you were there, then you know what it is, right?"

The mirror displayed more text. _No. Had vision. No sounds._

"I'm sure that must have been hard for you, mirror," Steven said.

"We could ask Pearl to make you more comfortable in the future if you'd like," I said.

"You two are great friends," it said. And then I realized this mirror wasn't just answering our questions, it was actually alive. I didn't know what to make of that.

"Thank you, mirror! You, too!" Steven said.

* * *

Steven and I hung round with the mirror all day. It was cool having a third person in our team dynamic, even if it was a mirror with an AI imbedded inside of it. We ended up hanging out on the beach. The sun was lowering, but there was still an hour until sunset. It was a bright day.

"This has been one of the better days we've had!" Steven said.

"We might have to ask Pearl if we could keep this mirror. It's not only a cool contraption, but it's a great person!" I said.

"Thank you, Connie," the mirror said. "I would like that. But don't tell her I'm an AI."

"Pearl didn't know that, did she? She just thought you were an inanimate object." Steven said. "What's your story, mirror?"

"My story?" it said.

"Yeah, when did you become self-aware? You know, your story?" I said.

A cloud blocked out the sun. The mirror rippled and became text. "It's been a long time since someone asked me that question."

I looked at the text for a few seconds. "Well, that's oddly foreboding," I said.

The mirror kept writing. "You two are young. You aren't like the others."

"The… others?" I said. A shiver ran down my spine.

"Can I ask you a favor?" the mirror wrote.

"What… is it?" Steven said.

The mirror wrote, "I know it's a lot to ask, but," The mirror paused for a second before revealing a second line, "could you set me free?"

I was startled. "Let you free? You mean… you're trapped in there?"

"For thousands of years…" It wrote.

"We'll do whatever we can to help you!" Steven said,

"Yeah, or my name isn't Connie Maheswaran! Why didn't you say so sooner?"

"The crystal gems won't like it…"

"Who cares what the gems will think? I'm sure we can change their minds," I said.

"What can we do to help?" Steven said. "Just tell us! As your friends, mirror, what can we do to help you?"

The mirror always had to distort an image into words, it usually just took a random image. This time, it took the two of our smiling faces and distorted it into four words: "Take out my gem."

"Gem?" I said.

"The one on the back!" Steven said. "That's what you mean, right?"

"Right," the mirror said.

We were about to pull out the gem when Pearl's terrible timing struck back. She walked out onto the beach nearby, saw us, smiled, and called, "There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you two. Come back to the temple, it's dinnertime!"

"Just a minute, Pearl!" Steven yelled. He turned to me. "Hurry!" he said.

"But can't we wait another day, when Pearl isn't 50 feet away from us?" I said. "Should we really be doing this now?"

"Of course we should be doing this now! We can't wait any longer! Whoever's trapped in here, they've waited for thousands of years. We can't let them wait a day longer! Come on, pull out that gem!"

"Hurry, hurry, hurry…" the mirror looped. I turned the mirror over and eyed the gemstone, having no idea what was about to happen. But Steven was right. No matter what might become of us, we're the infinity duo, and I would die rather than let someone be trapped in a mirror.

Steven and I grabbed the gem together and started pulling. Water came from the ocean and started forming a pattern on the sand. I heard Pearl say something, but I couldn't hear what. She looked frightened. Steven and I kept pulling our emotions completely in sync. I felt us begin to fuse, and I forcibly cut it off. I didn't want whoever this was to come out and see Stevonnie, I wanted them to see Steven and me. I pulled harder. Pearl started sprinting towards us, seemingly wanting to stop us from releasing the entity. I pulled even harder. The water underneath us formed an infinity sign of its own. I didn't question what it meant, I just kept pulling.

Finally, the gemstone came free just as Pearl reached us, shattering the mirror instantly. An explosion of water spewed outwards, knocking Pearl away but leaving the two of us unscathed. A body came forth from the center of the gemstone, first taking on the appearance of a marionette but quickly gaining more features.

It was a gem. A brilliant blue gem, who was debatably even prettier than Pearl.

It looked up at us. "Thank you! You saved me… I thought I would never get out. I-you put so much trust in me after we had just met…"

"Who… are you?" I said.

She looked up at us. "My name is Lapis Lazuli," she said, and it sounded like she had just said her name was some sort of god.

"No, but… who are you?" I said.

"…I just said that. It's Lapis, Lapis Lazuli."

"No, no!" Steven said. "What she was trying to say was, what happened to you? How did you get trapped in the mirror? Why didn't Pearl know you were there?"

Lapis didn't get a chance to answer, because she saw something. "The Pearl! She's still awake!"

I looked over at Pearl. She was slowly getting up, despite her injuries. That explosion of water was rough. But Pearl wasn't a quitter. As I watched her, she brought up the strength she had left, screamed, and charged Lapis with her spear. Lapis prepared to strike back, taking on a combat stance and pulling up her hand. I looked back and forth between Pearl and Lapis. I didn't want to have to choose between them!

Steven jumped in front of Pearl just as she reached Lapis and yelled, "STOOOOOOOOP!"

Pearl stopped a second before she reached Steven. "Steven, get out of the way! You have no idea who she is!" Pearl said.

Steven said, "I know she was trapped in that mirror for thousands of years and that she hasn't attacked us yet, even though she had plenty of chances to do so!"

"You don't know what you're dealing with! Get out of my way."

"No! Not until you explain!"

"You know you couldn't stand up to me. Step aside before I make you do so."

"You would never do it, Pearl. You couldn't. And I'm not letting you hurt her."

Pearl looked heartbroken. "It's the only way," she said. She kicked him in the chest, causing him to sprawl to the ground nest to me. I was simply paralyzed the whole time.

I saw a flash from the corner of my vision. I turned and saw lapis, and she looked terrifying. She held up her hand and a hand of water came from behind her. "You," she said. "You found me lying on the ground, and instead of setting me free, you treated me like another artifact to add to your collection. And worst of all, you hurt Steven! I am Lapis Lazuli, not some inanimate object!" She said, hurling a fist of water at Pearl.

"No!" I yelled. No fighting. I didn't know who was on the right side, I didn't care. I didn't want anyone else to get hurt. On impulse, I jumped in front of Pearl and held up my hand. Lapis' eyes widened as her fist of water was suddenly on a collision course with me, and she couldn't stop it in time. I closed my eyes and braced for the worst. I expected to feel the painful impact of a giant fist, or just about anything, but nothing came. There was utter silence from everyone around me.

I creaked my eyes open. I saw my mark glowing bright purple, and Steven's shield was summoned in front of my hand. The hand of water turned back into just water and fell to the ground via gravity. I held the position for a few moments, my hand stretched upwards. The shield slowly disintegrated and I was left standing there, no shield in sight. The only sound was my own heavy breathing

Through all my emotions, I finally said, "No more fighting. Please."

The two of them looked at me. Finally, Pearl set down her spear, and Lapis loosened up a little.

Lapis said, "Fine, I'll let bygones be bygones for now, but I haven' forgotten what she's done to me. So, do the two of you want to know the truth? You aren't getting it from a gem who would push you aside like Pearl. Come with me, and I'll tell you the truth." She held up her hand and the ocean behind her parted.

Pearl said, "Don't trust her!"

I looked at her for a few seconds. Waiting for more words to her own defense. But none came. I said, "You really… don't have anything more to say? Just, don't trust her. All of the accusations thrown your way and that's your only defense. "Don't trust her." You know what, I'm going with Lapis, and if you're truly the gem I think you are, you won't try to stop me." Pearl didn't say anything back.

Steven sat up, still sore from when he had been knocked aside by Pearl. "Connie, I just- we can't leave Pearl!"

"But she lied to us! She knew Lapis was in there and she did nothing!" I said.

"But there has to be a reason. We can't leave Pearl here alone! We still trust Garnet even though she lied to us, don't we?"

"But Garnet didn't imprison another person willingly!"

"Pearl had to have had a good reason… right? Pearl, come on, you have to have had a good reason to not let her free. You thought she was evil, right? Or you didn't know she was in there, right?" Pearl stayed silent. "Please, Pearl, say something. Anything. You can't be the person lapis says you are, can you?"

Steven looked at Pearl, waiting for her to defend herself. Hoping she would defend herself. But she didn't say a word.

Steven's face darkened. "Let's go Lapis," he said.

Steven grabbed my hand. The two of us walked with Lapis into the sea, leaving Pearl standing alone on the beach.

* * *

We walked in silence through the ocean. I didn't know what to think. We meet a new gem, and now we've abandoned everything we've ever known to follow her. What will the others do to us if we do go back? Could we ever go back? But I wanted to hear Lapis' story.

Steven said, "So Lapis, how did you end up in the mirror in the first place?"

Lapis said, "I… don't want to talk about it."

I smiled. "I know how you feel. We all have traumatic events. Although, I would say yours is worse than mine."

"Pearl… Pearl didn't trap you in there, did she?" Steven said. I didn't want to think about it, but it seemed like it might be possible.

Fortunately, Lapis shook her head. "No, that honor goes to homeworld. I really don't want to talk about it."

"Then why do you hate Pearl so much?"

"We were at war with them, of course," Lapis said. "And when Pearl found me a good 50 years ago, she did nothing to save me. She saw my gem in the back, unable to do anything to escape, and she either didn't notice or didn't care."

"That's horrible!" I said.

"Why do you think I attacked her? You two are the first ones to ever show me any sort of kindness. I don't know how you can stand to be around the crystal gems."

"What's so bad about the gems?" Steven said. "Besides leaving you in the mirror, of course."

"They must have kept you two in the dark. They're… what's the word you humans would use? Terrorists."

"What?" Steven and I said at the same time.

"Homeworld planned to build a colony here, but the gems, they didn't like that. They killed many gems, poofed and imprisoned… oh, I'm sorry, _bubbled_ , countless others. They stopped the progress of homeworld all to save this meaningless planet."

We took that in as we walked in silence for a while longer. "Where are we going?" I said.

Lapis looked up into the sky. "I'm going to homeworld. I don't know how I'm going to get there, but I'm going to try."

"We'll do whatever we can to help," Steven said.

Lapis shook her head. "Why are you two doing this for me? You just met me today. You're going to anger the people you've known your entire life, and for what? To help a simple Lapis Lazuli."

"Who wouldn't do it? We couldn't leave you in there," Steven said.

"You two might be the only two in the entire cosmos that think like that."

Steven stopped and stared at the sea. The fish swimming everywhere, it was a marvel.

He didn't tell me he was about to stop, though, so I ended up falling forwards, along with Steven.

"Well, you two are klutzes," Lapis said. "What made the two of you trip at the same time?"

I exchanged a look with Steven. "You don't know about our infinity link?" he said.

"What's an infinity link?" Lapis said.

"Haven't you ever wondered why we always stay so close to one another?" I said.

"I just figured the two of you were just close friends," she said.

"It's hard to explain," Steven said, "But for some reason we were cursed to never leave one another's side. We can't walk more than three feet away from each other, or we're jerked backwards.

Lapis stopped in her tracks. "A gem bond? With a human?" she said.

"A gem bond?" Steven and I said simultaneously. Did she know what happened to us?

Before she could elaborate further, though, the ground shook. I saw a crack appear before us. The landmass beneath us started lifting up into the sky.

"What's going on?" I said. The ground began to rise/

"I don't know!" Steven said.

Before we could do much of anything about it, the landmass beneath us was already 50 feet in the air and rising. The water around us spilled away into the ocean.

"We need to get the gems, they'll know what to do!" Steven said.

"Who's to say the gems didn't do this in the first place?" Lapis said.

The sand beneath us started falling, so we had no choice but to run back to Beach city. It wasn't too far away, we had been walking slowly on the way in, and now we were sprinting. It was only a third of a mile or so. It wasn't exactly a chase sequence against the falling sand, we were easily staying ahead of it, but the island was slowly shrinking all the same. "It doesn't matter. We're going to butt heads with the gems sooner or later, we might as well meet with them now," I said.

Lapis sighed. "Why do you still trust them?"

"Because I've known them for years, and they wouldn't ever hurt someone for no reason," Steven said.

"You're changing positions on this really quickly," I said.

As we ran backwards, we met up with Pearl on the beach. She was furious.

"I know this is your fault!" Pearl and Lapis said at the same time.

"Stop fighting and get out of the sand? That's what's falling!" I said.

I grabbed Pearl's hand and pulled her onto the boardwalk. It wasn't close, but 30 seconds later the sand on the beach fell as well, leaving just beach city to float high above the clouds.

"What the heck is going on?" Pearl said.

"How should I know?" Lapis said. "Maybe your friends did this."

Pearl said, "Oh, you did not just insinuate that we did this."

"I'm just using the information given to me." Lapis said.

"You'd better have not hurt these kids!" Pearl said.

"Of course I didn't! I'm not the one that kicked Steven to the ground."

"Why you little-"

The tensions were high. Then, just to make matters worse, Garnet and Amethyst came out onto the boardwalk to see what was going on only to find Lapis standing there.

"What's going on? What's a homeworld gem doing standing here on the boardwalk?" Garnet said. "Did you raise this city into the air?" Garnet said, summoning her gauntlets.

I covered my head with my hands. I didn't even know who I could trust anymore. Beach city was floating high above the earth. Lapis hadn't done anything wrong, but was going to get poofed for sure if we didn't do something. And she even knew what our link was. I thought the bird was bad. I thought the room was bad. I thought Garnets secrets were bad.

But this is something I could never prepare for.

What was I going to do?

* * *

 _A/N: I tried to keep the first half brief, you've all seen the episode before already. The new stuff is what you're looking forward to, after all. I do have a twist planned to explain the whole 'floating beach city' thing, so look forward to that next chapter._

 _Just so you know, school's starting soon for me, so you might want to expect a few delays. I'll try my best to get chapters out twice a week, but keep that in mind._

 _Hey, Lemur? I have another idea for some fanart if you or anyone else is interested. How about the scene where Connie blocks the wave of water with her hand, infinity symbol shining purple, Steven's shield in hand with Steven at her feet, protecting Pearl from Lapis? Or anyone else, I think it'd be pretty cool lookin'! Yeah, if you ever see a cool scene you want to draw, feel free to do so and sent me a review or PM of the artwork! I don't really expect anything unless I specifically request it, but you know, I can hope. I mean, Steven and Connie pulling the gem out with the infinity symbol underneath would be pretty cool as well._

 _Next time: We see what happens when an author decides to extend a two-parter into a three-parter. See you guys then!_


	14. Castle in the Sky, Anyone?

**Castle in the Sky, Anyone?**

 _A/N: FYI, the fic's name was changed from "Bonded by Fate" to "The Infinity Link: Bonded by Fate" for two reasons. One, I wish it was just "The Infinity Link" to begin with, because it sounds so much cooler. But I had to make do with using both names. Second, branding and sequel potential. I might have a spinoff or two in the works coming relatively quickly. More details at the ending author's note. Anyways, enjoy the actual story._

* * *

So there we were, Garnet and Amethyst ready to attack Lapis, Beach city raising higher and higher into the air, and no water for Lapis to fight with, so we couldn'g

"Everybody, wait!" I said. "Lapis doesn't mean you any harm! Well, maybe harm on Pearl. But she's not going to do you any harm anyways! Just listen!"

Steven backed me up. "Don't hurt her! Please, guys, not before you hear the whole story!"

For a second, I thought they were listening to us. Then, Amethyst got even angrier. "There's no way the two of them said that. What did she do to them? Is that snake using mind control? Don't worry, infinity duo, we'll get the two of you out of her control!" She didn't even seem to have heard the words we said, just calling it mind control.

Lapis held up her hand for water, but nothing came. Now that the island was high above the air, she was mostly powerless.

"We're not under her control, Amethyst!" I said. "Seriously, I'm completely conscious, and it's kind of insulting you would think we would fall so easily to mind control. Just ask Pearl, she knows we're under our own free will."

Amethyst glanced at Pearl, who said nothing and just looked at the ground. It was like she didn't even care what happened to us as long as Lapis got destroyed. Amethyst shook her head. "It's sad. They don't even know they're being controlled."

Steven said, "We do so! We don't have to fight, we can talk this out peacefully!"

"Save your words, Lapis. Even if you speak through these two, we know it's you. Don't bother trying to hide it."

I looked from one gem to the other. Amethyst didn't think we were acting on our own free will. I hoped Ganet might be more rational, but she didn't seem any better. They were just about ready to fight. I couldn't fight the two of them, not here. Yet they were about to attack, ready to poof the second true friend I've ever made.

"I've done nothing to either of these two children. Don't be brash!" Lapis said. She wasn't ready for a fight with no water nearby.

"Let them go from your control, and we'll talk," Garnet said.

"I can't do that! They're not under my control!"

"If you aren't going to listen to reason, maybe you'll listen to force!" Garnet yelled, and she charged Lapis. Something I couldn't let happen.

Steven and I jumped in front of her, of course. There was no way we could let Lapis be beaten to a pulp at best. We didn't have any weaponry, but that didn't mean we weren't going to try. Steven held out his hand in hopes of summoning his shield, but it didn't come. Garnet easily batted the two of us aside. Lapis froze under Garnet's brute strength. She raised her gauntlets, and brought them down onto Lapis.

I wanted to look away, but I couldn't. As if in slow motion, Garnet's gauntlets came down on Lapis, who had her back to a cliff, nowhere to run. Lapis closed her eyes, resigned to her fate. Then, a cyan blur rushed between Garnet and Lapis. It wasn't me, it wasn't Steven. Garnet's strike was blocked by twin spears. Pearl stood there, blocking Garnet's strike.

"Not you, too, Pearl. She even has you under her control?" Garnet said.

Pearl was no longer the sorry wreck she had been ever since we had run away with Lapis, a husk of her former self. She was back to being the Pearl I knew, the Pearl "I assure you, I am in complete control of my actions. You look into my eyes and tell me you see Lapis and not my own consciousness. I'm under my own control. And I'm doing this because I can't just sit by and let you attack Lapis like this any longer, even if I risk you thinking I'm a mindless drone. The truth is, Lapis doesn't even _have_ the power to control people's minds, she never did. It's my fault you even believe they're under her control in the first place. If I had just said Steven and Connie were okay when you asked, if I had said something earlier, yeah, maybe you would've thought I was under her control, but I should've tried. But I didn't. So, you know what, everyone, I'm sorry. I'm a coward. I lied to myself and said I could just sit by and let you attack her. I lied to myself and said I was justified in keeping Lapis in the mirror like that. And most of all I lied to myself and convinced myself that hurting Steven was okay if I attacked this gem I had never met. But she's innocent. All this time, the only one she hurt was me, even though she had plenty opportunity to kill Steven and Connie, and the only reason she attacked me was because I attacked her first. If you attack anyone, attack me. I'm sorry, Steven and Connie. I should've stepped in and told them you were under your own control sooner. I'm sorry, Garnet and Amethyst, for letting you believe for a second Steven and Connie weren't under their own control. And Lapis, an apology wouldn't be enough. I found you there by the galaxy warp and forgot that you were a gem, too. And even if that was forgivable, even when you were broken out of the mirror, I mercilessly attacked you. To you especially, I am so, so sorry."

Silence. I really didn't expect the heartfelt speech quota to be met so quickly today.

After a prolonged silence, Amethyst spoke up. "…I don't think Pearl is under Lapis' control,"

"NO DUH!" Steven and I shouted simultaneously.

Garnet chuckled at that. Pearl started to laugh, too. So did Steven, and then me as well. Before long, everybody except for Lapis was laughing. Lapis kept saying things like, "I don't get it. What's so funny?" which just made the whole thing funnier.

We all finally stopped laughing. But the important thing was, at least for now, the Crystal gems were back together. No more Garnet feeling bad for herself, no more doubting Pearl or Garnet were trustworthy, we were a team once again.

Steven raised his hand.

"Yes, Steven?" Pearl said.

"So, what are we going to do about those guys?" he said, pointing towards the edge of the plateau. There was currently a mob of scared-looking people looking at the far-off ground. "And the fact that we still don't know why we're floating about a thousand feet off the ground?"

Garnet looked over to the crowd. "I've got this," she said.

She strolled over to the mob of people. The questions were swarming.

"Why is beach city thousands of feet in the air?"

"Are you guys responsible for this?"

"How do we get down?"

"Where are you keeping the rock people clearly responsible for this?"

Garnet held up her hands for silence. The crowd died down and eagerly waited what Garnet was going to say.

"We have this under control. Don't worry. As long as you stay away from the edges, you should be fine. This will all be cleared up before you know it. I promise."

I was honestly surprised. Based on Garnet's normal interactions with the people of beach city, I expected something like "Oh, yeah, we're all screwed. We don't know what's going on either. Panic if you want, it won't change the outcome." Fortunately, that didn't happen.

She walked back to us. "So, you know what's going on? You have a plan?" Pearl said.

"No, I totally lied. I have no clue," Garnet said.

"Of course you did," Pearl said. "Okay, I'm just going to ask this question: I don't suppose anyone here knows why this is going on? I'm not pointing fingers, I just want to make sure no one knows anything. No, I'm not even insinuating that I blame you, either, I've already defended you, I'm not , either, Lapis, we'll deal with what to do with you later. I'm more curious about Amethyst."

"I thought you said we weren't pointing fingers!" Amethyst said.

"I changed my mind," Pearl said. "Anyways, does anyone have a clue why the island is floating?"

Nobody offered any immediate information, but everybody was thinking over other ways something might have happened. Lapis finally spoke up. "Would the heaven beetle be capable of doing this?"

Pearl said, "Yes, yes, but it got bubbled right away, it shouldn't be a problem. Wait… didn't it get bubbled away? It was in my hand when we went through the warp… please tell me you got it, Garnet."

Garnet covered her face with her hands. "It didn't occur to me at the time. I can't believe I never realized it was still missing!"

"But why now?" I said. "If the heaven beetle's been underground for something like 3 days, why did it take this long to come out?"

"Who cares?" Amethyst said. "Shouldn't we worry more about finding the beetle?"

"Wait… how did Lapis know about the beetle?" Garnet said suddenly suspicious again.

Pearl said, "It's a long story! I put the mirror- I mean, Lapis, in my gem, and again, I am so sorry about that, it so she could record what I saw and eventually be able to replay it to Steven and Connie, a sort of scrapbook of our adventures. She knows everything that happened since even before Connie came."

"Not everything. Not even close. Just so you're aware, I could only see through your eyes, I couldn't hear a word."

Pearl scratched the back of her neck. "Huh, I didn't realize that. Sorry about that, next time, I'll have to do some adjusting to the parameters of the encasement so there would be audio. Um, not that there'll be a next time, of course…"

Lapis looked away, saying nothing. I suppose it would be too much to ask for the animosity to go away already.

"Anyways!" Pearl said, trying to break the silence. "I think I have a tracker for the heaven beetle in my room! If we're able to find it, we should be able bring beach city back down to the ground. Come on, this way."

The group of us walked towards the temple. As I looked at the group of us, it occurred to me that Lapis was coming with us.

"You know, Lapis, you don't have to come with," I said. "I would understand if you wanted to just wait until this was over. After this, I promise, we'll do whatever we can to get you home."

"This place is your home, right?" Lapis said.

"Yes…?" I said.

"I know how important having a home is. You listened to me, rescued me, the least I can do is help you get your home back before I leave for mine. I've waited for thousands of years, what's a few more hours?"

"Thank you, Lapis," Steven said. We walked the rest of the way in a friendly silence.

The three of us reached the temple. "I'll go in and grab the tracker," Pearl said. "I'll be right back out, you five wait here," she said.

"No, I'm coming with," Amethyst said. "No more of this splitting up. The three of us stay together, like we have been the last five thousand years. I don't care if Rose is gone, the three of us are still a unit, and we're never changing that." Garnet nodded decisively.

Pearl smiled at the two of them. "Then, we'll go together. We should be right back, the three of you stay there." The three gems went through Pearl's door to the temple, leaving it open behind them just in case we wanted to follow.

"By the way," I said, as we waited "you knew something about this link, didn't you? You called it a gem bond."

"I don't know much, I'll admit. I only know what homeworld knew thousands of years ago, they probably know much, much more at this point. Maybe I could send you a message or something. They found two gems that couldn't go more than a 217 kilometers away from one another."

"We aren't alone?" we said together. "And I'm sorry, did you say 217 kilometers?" I said. Not the kilometers thing, I know what those mean, but… they could go 217 kilometers away from one another? How would you even know you couldn't go any further?"

"We gems travel between planets, remember. In space, 217 kilometers are learned of it when one of them tried to leave the planet, and the spaceship they were travelling in was stopped in its tracks. It took them a long time to figure out why, but they found out about the bond eventually. They found another one later on, too, and once they knew it wasn't a onetime thing, they gave it an official name: a gem bond. Those were the only two known instances of a gem bond, one spanning a hundred miles, one spanning only 50 feet. A sapphire can't see the future of anyone in a link. And of the two known cases, those were the only similarities, they each had differences, but it was decided it was the same based on the future vision not working, and the fact that the bond was similar. The information was kept under lock and key, but it worked its way around in the form of rumors. I found it fascinating at the time, but I didn't get to learn anything else about it before I… before I became a mirror. Anyways, that's all I know, I'm sorry it wasn't much."

Steven and I stared at her for a few seconds. "I'm curious what your definition of 'much' is, then," I said.

"What?" Lapis said.

"Never mind," Steven said. "For us, what you just said was a lot of information."

"Oh. Why didn't you just say that?"

"Because in English, when you want to say something, you say it sarcastically, okay?" I said.

We kept waiting for Pearl and the others to come out with the tracker. But after around five minutes of waiting, they hadn't come out yet.

"Could you hurry up? We want in on your epic adventure!" I called into the open door.

No answer.

Steven said, "Hello! You didn't decide to start without us, did you?"

Once again, no response.

I glanced at Steven. The gems weren't usually ones to leave us like this without a word. One of them should've responded by now. I mean, there was always a chance Amethyst convinced the other two to stay quiet as a prank, but she wouldn't do something like that in such dire straits. Well… she might, but Pearl wouldn't listen. What if something had gone wrong?

Steven and I ran into the door, not having to exchange another word. Lapis, a bit surprised, ran after us frantically. She just made it in as the door closed behind her. I guess we were locked in, but I wasn't worried. I was more worried about the gems.

"You could've warned me we decided to run in after them!" she said.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Steven said sheepishly. "I forgot you couldn't read each our emotions like we can. Sometimes we can forget like that… again, sorry."

Lapis smile wistfully. "It must be nice having a friend you can trust so much you're okay with being chained to never leave their side…"

"Yeah, it is," Steven said. "But only if we do agree, if we don't, it's a nightmare."

"I can imagine," Lapis said.

We all looked around. The three gems were nowhere to be seen. "Guys! You there?" I called. Again, of course, no response"Maybe they went to Amethyst's room," Steven suggested. "After all, Pearl's stuff ends up in there all the time."

"I'd be surprised if it wasn't down there, honestly," Lapis said. "I tumbled down there more times than I can count."

"I'm sorry, that must have been terrifying," I said.

"Look," Lapis said, "you guys don't need to keep apologizing. Neither of you did anything wrong, it's not you I'm angry at. Besides, even if you were, there's no changing history."

"So, how do we get to Amethyst's room?" I said, trying to get back on topic. I'm sorry I kept interrupting , but it's hard talking about this. I couldn't even imaging what it might be like to be trapped in the mirror.

Steven's face lit up. "That's the fun part!"

He grabbed my hand and brought me over to a waterfall. "What do you expect us to do?"

"We slide down it! Like a waterslide!"

"That sounds unsafe!" I said.

"Come on, don't you trust me? I've done this once already."

I looked downwards. "I can't even see the bottom! Are you _sure_ this is a safe thing to do?"

"Stop being a wuss. Just jump!"

Steven jumped onto the slide. I didn't have a choice in the matter, I was pulled along with. Well, if I was going down, Lapis was going down with me! I grabbed her hand and pulled her with. Lapis was annoyed at this, but she didn't mind for long.

Because guess what? It was just a waterslide, a fun one at that. Because of course it was I kind of wonder why it was designed like that, was this place designed for a child? I guess it didn't matter. I was more frustrated that Steven was right than confused as to why it was a waterslide. If only Steven had told me that it wasn't dangerous in the first place! I mean, he did, but he could've been more specific. You know, I've seen Steven's memories, I could've seen those memories through Steven's eyes. Okay, my point is, he could've said something! I'm in the wrong, aren't I?

We reached the bottom of the slide and reached Amethyst's room.

"You know," Lapis said, "as much as I hate Pearl, she's right on this one. Amethyst's room is a mess."

She was right, of course. There were piles of stuff so high, it was hard to see anything at all. Various insane artifacts of unimaginable power and value, things that could solve world hunger and the world's energy crisis if they wanted to simply lay in piles, hidden away by countless other things that were completely worthless.

Still, she was still on thin ice. I didn't want her to get on Amethyst's bad side. "Quiet, Lapis. What if she can hear you?"

"Why would I care what they think? What are they going to do, put me back into the mirror? I doubt you two would let that happen. Not that I'm taking advantage of you or anything, I'm just stating facts."

"If they wanted to do something to you, I couldn't stop them. I want you to be careful, okay?"

Steven interrupted our conversation. "Pearl! Garnet! Amethyst?" he yelled. He was getting worried, even more so when, yet again, there was no response. I understood why, where were they?

Finally, there was a response. More specifically, a scream. I recognized it as Amethyst's voice. It wasn't the response I was hoping for.

"That way!" Steven yelled. We all ran towards the voice. I imagined dramatic music playing in my mind. What were we going to find?

We kept running in the direction of the voice, calling out to Amethyst all the time. But we heard no other sounds. We found ourselves racing down a narrow pathway of junk. We ran and ran, hoping to see a sign of any of the gems. But then, we reached a dead-end. The garbage was piled high on either side, and there was a wall to the temple before us.

"I know her voice was coming from over here," Steven said.

"Maybe it was a trick with the sound? You know, like when sound echoes from off a wall?"

"I don't think so. This place doesn't echo much,. Besides, if that was true, where did the sound come from, then?" Steven said.

"Look! Right there!" Lapis said, interrupting our argument. She pointed to the ground at the dead end. There was a strange device sitting in an area didn't have any trash on the floor, mysterious in the first place because of the lack of junk. In the middle of the open space, there was a single lightly glowing artifact.

"That's the thing they used to detect the beetle," she said.

My mental gears started turning. "It looks like it's been turned on." I picked it up. Sure enough, when I pointed it around, it glowed more and less, likely tracking the beetle. "That means the gems must've come down here and _turned_ it on, like we suspected they would. I mean, of _course_ it ended up in Amethyst's room. But if they turned it on, and they _were_ here, then… what happened to the gems? There shouldn't be anything dangerous here, it's just the temple. It's just us and the gems. Unless… it isn't just us and the gems…"

"We need to get out of here!" Steven said, starting to run down the corridor. Whatever was in here, it might not be gone.

"No, we need to find the gems!" I said, pulling him the other way.

We slowed down. "No, I didn't mean we should abandon them. I mean, we didn't bring our weapons with us. We don't have our swords! Worse yet, we don't have your violin!"

"Ha, ha, very funny. But you're right, we need some weapons," I said.

"I mean, your violin _has_ solved just as many problems as your sword," Steven said.

"Guys, we shouldn't be talking like this. What if the monster's still here?" Lapis said. We shook off our banter and picked up the pace again.

"Lapis, I think the door is this way," Steven said, going right at a fork.

Lapis wordlessly grabbed his hand and pulled him to the left.

"Or maybe it's this way," he said. Sure enough, we reached the door to the temple.

"How did you know what way to go?" I said.

"As I said, I've been down here a lot," she said. "Come on, let's get out of here!"

I walked up up to the door. I felt around for a handle and tried pushing on it, but it didn't budge. "I don't suppose we know how to open it?" I said.

"I've seen Pearl come out of this room using her gem, so I know it isn't only Amethyst. I just have no idea how to activate it! Can you open it, Lapis?"

"Of course I can't. It'll only respond to these five gems, these doors are all over the place on homeworld. At least, there were. It's likely changed in the last few thousand years. You've opened your own room," Lapis said.

"Yeah, but only ever by accident. This gem _never_ does what I want."

"I don't know, it's done basically everything you've ever wanted it to do, with only, like, two exceptions," Lapis said.

"Look, argue later, escape now," I said.

Steven concentrated hard, but nothing happened. I looked back frantically. Whatever came for the others had to be close to us!

But I saw nothing. There was no one there. Whatever it was, it seemed to be gone.

"I wish that whatever's out there would just attack us! This is like the worst part of a horror movie," Steven said.

I shuddered. I looked again into the shadows, what if there was something still lurking, waiting for us to make a mistake? But I buckled down. "Look," I said. "If we're stuck in here for now, and we're not in immediate danger, then it's up to us to figure out what's going on. If we can't get out, we might as well go further in."

Steven looked warily at the one gem we did have. "Last chance, Lapis," Steven said. "You could just stay here, where it's relatively safe. Or you could go to Pearl's room, with all the water there, you'd stay safe, you'd be able to fend off whatever attacks you there."

"You don't have to ask again," Lapis said. "Neither of you have swords with you, I'd feel responsible if you got hurt."

"Yeah, I expected you to say that," Steven said. "I just don't want to get you in danger right after you got out of what was essentially a prison."

Lapis shook her head. "You are way too kind to be a part of the crystal gems,"

"What's so bad about the gems, anyways?" I said. "Is this just about the fact Pearl kept you in the mirror? You heard her apologize, even if you still don't believe it."

Lapis didn't give the straight answer I expected. "I… no, that's not everything. It's complicated… it's all about what happened before I was even a mirror in the first place. You guys probably wouldn't want to hear it. And I don't want to talk about it, for that matter."

"It's really okay," Steven said. "you don't need to talk if you don't want to." He patted her on the back.

"Okay, enough of this. Lapis doesn't want to talk about this, and we aren't getting any closer to saving them by standing around and talking emotions. Look, I'm sorry, I'm acting really insensitive, but for all we know, every second we wait is another second the bad guys have to torture them, or another second they have to hunt us down. We need to work fast. So, we- AGH!" I yelled. My palm felt like it was on fire. Mainly because it was.

I was frustrated, because I knew what was happening. "Steven, are you remembering repressed memories? Now isn't the time!" I said.

"I swear, I'm not! I was about to say the same thing!" Steven said.

I started feeling woozy. "Well, if it wasn't me, and it wasn't you, then who was it?"

Steven and I simultaneously looked at Lapis. She was staring at her hand, which was currently glowing bright blue. I knew she wasn't in our link, she'd been at least 50 feet away from us once or twice. But my voice failed me when I tried to speak a word. Just like last time, the pain melted away, and the hourglass seemed to float off my hand and spin rapidly. We were about to hear the tale of Lapis Lazuli, whether we liked it or not…

* * *

 _A/N: Cliffhanger!_

 _Well, I just realized the title of the chapter includes the first non-parody title of an outside media I've used. But I guess naming the chapter 'Colosseum in the Air, Anyone?' would be a bit obscure._

 _ **Okay, the important information:**_ _Just a little more info on the renaming of the renaming of the story. The new name is kind of to signify the fact that this isn't just a single story, I might make sequels and spinoffs under the "Infinity Link" title. I mean, it was_ _going_ _to be just a one time thing, but this is popular enough I definitely have one spinoff planned, maybe a sequel down the works, and maybe even a few oneshots. You might want to fave/follow my user so you'll be notified when they come out, but I won't pressure you. For the future, look out for fics with the title: The Infinity Link, and you'll know what that means. I also might make stories under a different title, so you'll know that those stories aren't part of this universe as well. I'm sorry for any confusion the renaming might have caused, but I hope to benefit in the long run._

 _Oh, and this isn't necessarily a far-off thing. I have a spinoff/sidequel coming quite soon. More details coming soon, keep an eye out._

 _Anyways, reviews are awesome, fanarts are awesomer, fave and follow if you haven't already, blah blah yada yada, I want my story to be popular, okay? This is the most popular a story of mine has ever gotten (Even if this is my first story on , other websites are a thing), and it's still growing fast, about a follow and a favorite every day. It's doing better than I could have imagined. My goal was "Not be completely forgotten," which was already accomplished. My pipe dream goal is #1 fic with a Connie tag, and that's still a ways off. But I'm pretty close to being on the first page of sorting by faves of stories w/ Connie in them. So, I'm still going to try my hardest! And if you would send a review to show your appreciation, I would be incredibly grateful._

 _Next time (Oh, yeah, there's a story to go along with the author's note) We see what happens when an author decides to stretch a three-parter into a four-parter (Maybe, it depends on the length). We're going over Lapis' backstory, so prepare for headcannons. Then, we explore the_ _Tardis_ _Temple to try to figure out what happened to the gems. See you guys then!_


	15. Just When it Was Starting to Make Sense

**Just When It Was Starting to Make Sense…**

We hovered over Earth, soon to be the Diamonds' newest colony. I know it was just business, but I still just couldn't wait. I was going to visit earth! I couldn't believe I of all the Lapis Lazulis Pink Diamond employed was picked! I mean, more than just me were chosen, but I was still one of the first picked. I knew all my good work would in the past thousand years would pay off! It was the planet they called the prettiest in the cosmos, and it was our just to make it even prettier. But that might have been a tall order. Even from space, it was beautiful!

It was so pretty, they said, there was even a rebellion there fighting for the planet to retain its original beauty. I had to say, I could understand their cause, seeing this planet for the first time. Not that I would ever join them. I had heard their methods were brutal, and their cheap tactics and lies brought more and more gems would join their side every day. And besides, who were they to question the diamonds' authority? There'd been reports of a few fights down there, but I didn't think I'd be in any sort of trouble. I was working far away from any sort of warp, where the so called 'Crystal Gems generally struck other gems down, and besides, the way my bosses put it, it really wasn't that big of a deal.

"Don't get too excited," Lappi, the lapis I was paired with, said. "The diamonds always overexaggerate how _amazing_ their new colonies are going to be." I'd known Lappi a long time. Since we're both Lapises, I almost immediately started calling her Lappi to differentiate us, and also because she was usually so darn optimistic. I knew friendships were sub-optimal, but I didn't care. I knew we weren't the only ones that formed friendships, and the diamonds generally had much better things to worry about than a little friendship.

I did however worry that some _other_ things she said might incriminate us. "Don't say that! What if someone reports you! Of course it's as beautiful as the diamonds say! Besides, look at that planet and tell me that it isn't a beauty."

"We're flying up here alone, Lapis. No one can hear us if we say little things like 'The diamonds occasionally exaggerate things,'" she said.

"But what if we're bugged?! I heard a rumor that-"

"Seriously, Lap? Stop worrying so much. If something on our clothes _were_ bugged, they wouldn't give such a big secret away by punishing a little remark like that. If they're a secret, they'll stay a secret. You're just being ridiculous."

"You can't blame me for being cautious."

The two of us descended upon earth. I was instantly entranced again. It didn't get any less beautiful as we descended downwards. The lush, green fields, the white layer of clouds all over everything, the endless oceans of water. There was just so much water! It was like this planet was specifically designed for Lapises!

"Yes, I can. If you're too cautious, life is boring," Lappi said.

"Quiet! Never mind that, I'm looking at the scenery!" I said.

This planet was a wonder. It just got better and better as we descended. There were actual living animals, I'd always heard about these things. Organic life forms, what an idea! It was everything I had imagined. I couldn't wait to get out and see it all! I'm sure my face was a wonder to look at.

"You're getting way too into this," Lappi said.

"What, you don't see it? The little white things skittering beneath the trees, the lack of technology, the pure nature! I should ask the diamonds to make a small sanctuary to keep at least some of earth's beauty alive!"

"Keep this up and you'll have to be the one we call Lappi," she said.

* * *

The memory cut forwards. Lappi and I had flown over to a remote canyon to start our job. You'd think that it would get a little bit less pretty once you reach a rocky cliff, and yes, it wasn't as beautiful at a glance, but if you looked closer it might have been prettier than the forest. All the complicated rock patters, the seemingly random nature of the canyon all being carved from simple water. It wasn't like the gem structures, all made with a specific purpose in mind. It seemed to have no purpose, not yet, and the randomness of it was just fascinating. Anything without a purpose should be destroyed, right? So, if this canyon had no purpose, why did I feel such regret tearing it up?

"You're getting sentimental again, Lap," Lappi said.

"Sometimes, it feels like you can read my mind," I said.

"Nah, you just show your emotions way too easily," she said.

"I don't know. Can't we stop and look at this place for a while? Maybe you don't see it, but this place is beautiful."

"I'm not stopping if I want my paycheck."

"We get paid by the hour, and no one's watching. Aren't you always saying that? Who would know if we took ten minutes off?"

"I've been rubbing off on you way too much, haven't I? What is with you and this planet…?"

"Come on, it's amazing! Can't you see the raw power of the nature of this planet? This whole canyon was carved by water. Not lapises carving it with water. Just water, all on its own. Untouched by Homeworld's hand."

Lappi finally looked over at me with a look of disbelief on her face. "You know, for someone who seems to care so much about blasphemy…"

"Oh, quiet you. All I'm saying is that they should set aside a nature sanctuary or something to save some of the wonder of this planet. Gem architecture's pretty, too. I'm not going full-on Crystal Gem just yet."

"Meh. I give you a week, tops."

I rolled my eyes. "Come on. I might sort of understand their cause, but homeworld needs this planet. I might be a bit of a tree-hugger, but those guys are willing to kill for this planet. Willing to be killed. I don't think a little beauty is worth dying for."

Lappi looked away suddenly. "We'd better start working again before someone asks what's going on."

"Yeah, yeah." I said. I took the water from the river and started smoothing the rock to the sides, readying it to be a third kindergarten. You can't have a kindergarten without smooth walls, after all. Still, it was a shame to see the imperfections go.

* * *

I heard an explosion off in the distance. It was only a few hours after we arrived.

"What was that?" I said, looking around suddenly

Lappi saw some smoke rising from the distance. "We should check it out," Lappi said.

"What? That's a horrible idea!" I said.

Of course, Lappi was already on the way towards the explosion, the danger. I hesitated for a moment, but of course, I had no choice but to follow. What friend would I be if I didn't? I sprouted my wings and followed Lappi.

We reached there in record time. I always wondered why Lapis Lazulis were capable of flying so fast. I know, we could be messengers in times of war, but I think that's mainly _because_ we can fly so fast, not that we were designed to fly so fast so we could be messengers. It's just kind of weird that our terraforming work doesn't include any of that. Anyways, we reached the location of the explosion in only 15 seconds.

As we reached the source of the explosion, Lappi seemed odd. Like she wanted to say something, but it wasn't the time. Equal parts excitement and fear. Yet, when we reached the source of the explosion, it melted away into just fear. We had come across what I could only describe as a battlefield. A massive battle between Homeworld and the Crystal Gems. Homeworld, a healthy supply of Jaspers, Agates, and Amethysts, trained for thousands of years, the best in the league. The crystal gems, a hodgepodge of just about every type of gem out there. They had no right to win, they were outnumbered and outskilled. Yet, there were thousands of Crystal Gems! How could this be? Homeworld told me there were a hundred at best! They said we would be safe, that the Crystal Gems had been taken care of! Now there was a fight of this scale just 10 kilometers away from the place we had been working minutes before. The homeworld gems still outnumbered the Crystal Gems three to one, but the crystal gems were somehow winning. For every one of them that went down, ten homeworld soldiers fell. I found it hard to find my voice looking at the horrors before me.

I finally spoke. "Lappi, we need to go! We can't fight!" We were just Lapises. If we went in there, it would be suicide!

"We can't leave them! Look at the gems down there! They're getting slaughtered! We have to help!" Lappi said.

"What? Help? No, I can't risk my life like that! This isn't our fight." Everything was going too fast. It was just hours earlier we sat and contemplated the merits of keeping canyon walls rough, now we were in the middle of a full-scale war? My mind was shut down.

Lappi shook her head. "I'm not asking you to risk your life. In fact, I'm asking you not to. I'm telling you, I'm going to fight, and I want you to go someplace safe. I can't let something happen to you."

"Happen to me? Who cares! What about you?"

She looked me in the eye, and I knew that her mind was made up. "Lapis. There's something I want you to know, because I might not make it back from this."

I couldn't let her go. "What are you saying? Stop sounding like you're already dead. You're not down there yet. We don't have to fight!" I saw all the gems fighting down in the battlefield. Lappi wouldn't stand a chance! I couldn't lose her!

"No, _you_ don't have to fight. I do."

"Lappi, stop. You don't have to fight, either. We can fly. We can escape to space. The diamonds wouldn't think any less of us, I know it."

"I don't care what the diamonds think. Because you're wrong, I do have to fight. But before I go, I want you to know something."

I started crying, flying up in the air with her, staring into her eyes. "No, you can't go. I… I…"

"I've wanted to tell you for the last 500 years, ever since you saved me from that rouge Topaz. I love you." She kissed me on the lips. In my shock and odd joy, I felt my body glow and the two of us fused. We had fused before, for work purposes only, but every time it was just me, but bigger. This time, though, I wasn't just in my own body, but twice as tall. I was in a form entirely my own, a whole new body. Before I could even look at myself, the fusion dissipated away, and the two of us were just left kissing again. I barely even knew what love was, and I had known Lappi for more than a thousand years, but never like this… She slowly pushed out of the kiss, and the two of us were silent, just looking into one another's eyes.

"I'm sorry," Lappi finally said, and she dived into the battlegrounds before I could say a word back to her.

I yelled, "Wait!" but she didn't even hear me. I didn't hesitate this time. I dived after her.

I landed on the floor right near where she landed, but I lost her in the fight. Where was she? I had to find her! A Bismuth came from my left, he was what felt like twice my size, and he was ready to strike. I sprouted my wings again. I needed to be overhead, where I could find Lappi, and have her explain herself, and I needed to get away from this rouge Bismuth. What would be the point of finding Lappi if I died myself? I spread my wings and tried to get away from the battle I had so rashly joined, but the Bismuth was faster than I was. I saw him smile, relishing in defeating me. I felt a fist hit my side, my whole body erupted in pain, and then I blacked out, my physical form retreating back into my gem.

* * *

I had to get back. I had to summon whatever physical form I could, so I could search for her. I was always slow coming back, it took my body so long to regenerate. I forced it to go faster. I needed to reform, no matter the cost to my body. I felt my form, it was so close to coming to. Finally, my eyes opened, for the first time in what felt like far too long. I got up immediately, I needed to find Lappi! Or at least, I tried to. But I couldn't move an inch. Was I tied up or something? Everything was so muted. I couldn't even turn my head, I tried to say something, to yell out to whoever was keeping me like this, but no sound came out.

A Zircon stepped before me. "Lapis Lazuli of the Crystal Gems," she said.

 _The Crystal Gems? I'm not one of them!_ I thought, but no words came out.

"You must be confused. You got poofed by one of our soldiers, and now you're completely paralyzed, yes? Well, let me set the record straight. You are not trapped in a mirror, you _are_ a mirror, and you will _remain_ a mirror until you give us the information we desire." He picked me up and twirled me around. It was nauseating. I might've thrown up, but I didn't have a mouth to throw up out of.

"What do you want? I don't know anything!" I tried to say, but no matter what I tried to say, nothing came out of my mouth.

"Not that you'll have any choice in the matter. This mirror wills you to do whatever we want you to do. Now, you little traitor, show me the location of your base, and Pink Diamond might be nice enough to not shatter you after this."

I tried to say that I didn't know where it was. I tried to tell them that I was just a homeworld Lapis, and that I didn't know anything. That I was on their side! But nothing came out, the screen stayed blank.

"A strong will, eh?" the Zircon said. She smiled. "No wonder, you're one of the Crystal Gems. Oh, well. We'll see how long that strong will of yours lasts. For now, have fun hanging out in prison! Or at least, Prison for a mirror," he said, setting me down. I looked around the best I could, and saw I was in some sort of meeting room for Homeworld. "You can get out any time you like. No? Well, I'll just set you here for now then," she said, laughing and walking away.

I couldn't do anything to stop it. I was just a mirror.

* * *

She came the next day, and the next.. Every day, she came and went. Every day, getting angrier and angrier. More and more gems came in, telling me to cooperate. Torturing me. Claiming they'd give me rewards if I cooperated. I wanted to tell them something, anything, but I didn't know the answer to anything they asked, so I couldn't say anything at all. And no one bothered to ever ask if I was a Crystal Gem at all. I was trapped.

* * *

Finally, one day, the Zircon brought me to the galaxy warp. I didn't know what she would do to me. Maybe shatter me. Maybe release me, but I wasn't hopeful. She was in an especially bad mood today, which was bad news for me.

Then, her anger evaporated, and she sounded defeated. "This is it," the Zircon said. "We've lost. You won. We've been sent the order to evacuate, and so here I am. You're lucky I remembered to bring you at all. Your information would've saved so many lives. It could've won us the war! But now it's too late. You're probably laughing at that, that you were able to win the war for the rebellion. But there's something you should know about your leader before I shatter you. Do you want to know what the great Rose Quarts did? Your mighty leader, the one who told you that you could be anything? The one who preached nonviolence to the very end? I'll tell you what she did. The great Rose Quarts shattered-"

* * *

"NO!" Lapis' voice rang out from the outside of the memory. Everything turned black and my eyes opened suddenly, I was Connie once again, in the middle of Amethyst's room. The symbol that spun in front of my vision was on my palm once again. Lapis was on the ground, crying. Steven's hand was still on her shoulder, he was practically a statue.

"You can't see that. You don't deserve to see that," Lapis said.

No wonder Steven felt so strongly last time. He didn't just see my memories of being bullied in school, he relived them. Right now, when I saw those memories, it was like I _was_ Lapis Lazuli. I not only saw through her eyes, I felt through her heart. It was indescribable.

"Lapis, I am so, so sorry, for everything," I said.

I couldn't see Lapis' face. "I told you… to stop apologizing to me."

"We made you relive your worst memories! No one should ever have to go through that twice. I know how it feels-"

Lapis looked up. She was smiling. "I got to see Lappi again. I got to relive the best moment of my life."

I was shocked. How could she be happy after that? "But… the war. She might've been shattered, or…"

"Then at least I got to talk to her one last time," she said.

I was going to interject again, but I stopped myself. Lapis was happi again (pardon the pun).

Steven, though, had one last bombshell to drop. "I've… seen that gem before," Steven said.

The two of us slowly turned towards him. "What?" we said.

"You heard me. I've seen Lappi before."

"What?" we said again.

"This way!" he yelled. He grabbed Lapis' hand and the three of us raced through Amethyst's room. He turned into a passage off to the side, leading to a giant, beating crystal heart.

"Woah…" I said. I'd never been in here before.

I didn't have much time to gawk, because we just kept running. Steven pulled Lapis and I down a chute. As we slid down, the air grew warmer and warmer. At the end of the chute lay the burning room, the place where the Crystal gems stored all of the corrupted gems. We narrowly avoided a pit of lava and landed in a thin layer of pink mist. "There!" he said, pointing to a bubbled gem. "That's the Lapis you were friends with!"

"How can you tell?" I said. "Yes, it's a Lapis, but how can you tell it's Lappi?"

"You don't see it?" Steven said. "Every gem is slightly different. That's Lappi's gem, I can guarantee it!"

Lapis said nothing. She slowly reached her hand up and grabbed the bubbled gem., looking at it wistfully. Then, she violently smashed the bubble against the floor! The bubble popped, Lappi's gem lying on the floor.

"Lapis, wait!" I said, a bit too late.

"Why should I wait? Lappi is trapped in here. I need to let her out!"

The gem on the floor started to take on a physical form. It glowed, and started to form the same way Lapis formed, first becoming a blank Mannequin. Then it changed. It's arms grew to monstrous proportions, growing claws. It's legs fused together into a snake's tail, it's face remained blank. It became a creature of nightmares. "Wh-what's happeining? Lappi, can you hear me?" Lapis said.

Before it could grow any more, I looked at the ground. There was a sword directly at my feet. I grabbed the sword from off the ground and sliced through the monster's physical form just before it reached completion. The monster howled before retreating back into its gem once again, becoming a simple Lapis Lazuli gemstone.

"I'm sorry Lapis…" Steven said. "I should've warned you…"

Lapis was devastated. She slowly picked the gem off the floor and stared at it. "Why… Just when I find you again, you disappear into the ether…"

I had lived through what she had lived through. There was no way I could let this go. "I promise you, Lapis, after all this is over, I'll do whatever it takes to make this right. Even if it takes me my whole life, I promise you, I'll find a way to bring her back. Not as a monster, but as the friend you once knew."

Lapis righted herself. She wiped a tear from her eye and smiled. "Thank you, Connie. The two of you, again and again, you go out of your way just to help me. Haven't you done enough? But maybe I should be happy. At least I know she isn't shattered. Even if she's like this now, maybe… someday, I can fix her." Lapis shed a few more tears, but they were well worth it.

"For the record," Steven said, "I'll do whatever I can to help, too." The two of us hugged her. Steven shed a few tears onto her. Heck, I did, too.

Lapis' gem glowed as bright as the sun suddenly. Steven and I stepped back in alarm and averted our eyes. The crack that had been in the gem melted away, leaving a solid gemstone. I didn't even know it was cracked in the first place! I thought it was supposed to be that way! Why hadn't Lapis said anything? From out of it, two wings of water formed, the same ones as from the memory. The glowing started to fade.

Then, Lapis closed her eyes in concentration and lifted her hand into the sky. The glowing grew even brighter! Lapis held her hand upwards, gripping it in concentration. A small ball of light formed in the air above her hand. It took on a shape, one end growing longer and thinner, forming a thin string, the other flattened a bit, forming a heart shape. The light faded, the object being shaped fully. Into Lapis' hand dropped a small, golden locket. Lapis brought her arm downwards and opened it. She took the gem she had been holding in her other hand and placed it into the locket. She lifted the locket up and strung the whole thing around her neck. She looked over at the two of us. "You never cease to amaze me," she said.

"Amaze you? What just happened?" I said.

"Somehow, the two of you healed the crack in my gem. I always heard the great Rose Quarts could do that, but I thought it was a myth! I guess I was wrong on that assumption. Rose really was just as powerful as everybody said she was."

"Okay, sure. But, the locket?"

"It's hard to explain. I harnessed the energy being used to repair my gem and redirected it. I'm used to terraforming land, what's terraforming a little bit of light while we're at it? I might be a bit rusty, but love can bring you a long way.

"…Wow," Steven said.

Lapis shrugged. I think she was eager to stop thinking about Lappi and her current predicament. "By the way, where did you get that sword, Connie? I know you didn't have it when you came, the two of you made a big deal out of it. It was very convenient you would have something to defeat Lap- to defeat the monster." Lapis said.

"I'm sorry, Lapis. Anyways, I don't know where this sword came from. I needed a weapon to make sure it didn't rampage and break out a bunch of other gems, that would've been a nightmare to deal with. And it just appears at my feet." I said. I looked at it. It was pink, but other than that, it wasn't that notable. It was kind of like a pink version of one of my other swords. "Crazy coincidence, right?"

"Huh… you know, I wonder if wasn't a coincidence…" Steven muttered.

"What?" I said.

"I said, I wonder if it wasn't a coincidence. Yes, sometimes things have gotten a bit close for comfort for the two of us, and sometimes things go our way way more than they should. But that sword, I know it wasn't there when we arrived here. I would've remembered that. Which just leaves the question, where did it come from?"

"Where are you going with this?" I said.

"Look at your feet. You've been in the burning room before. Why is there all this pink mist on the floor?"

I looked at my feet. I noticed the mist on the way in, but I was more focused on finding Lappi. "I see it. What's about it?"

"Haven't you seen a mist like this before? Better yet… a mist that would be able to create a sword from thin air?"

"…You mean the mist from Rose's room?" I said.

Steven nodded. "What if it's been leaching outwards, maybe because of the heaven beetle? What if it created some sort of monster that incapacitated the gems?"

"That's genius! Why didn't I think of that!" I said.

Steven reached down. He picked up a bit of mist from off the floor and concentrated. The mist formed a small baseball. "What can I say. If you come up with all the clever ideas, what am I left with?" he said.

I tossed him a sword that I made from the mist. He caught it in surprise. "Now we're even. I thought of making weapons from it," I said. I made another sword for myself, three swords total.

Steven stuck his tounge out at me. I giggled.

"Guys?" Lapis said.

"Yes?" we said simutaniously.

"The mist, it's all coming from that room over there," she said, pointing to a room that branched outwards from the one we were in. Pink mist was slowly oozing down the corridor. Experimentally, I held up my tracker for the beetle, and sure enough, the signal was coming from that direction. I got serious.

"Let's go. The gems need us," Lapis said.

The two of us stepped aside for the ocean blue gem. Lapis, for once, led the way as we marched off into the pink mist with but one goal: to save the gems. As we ventured further and further into the corridor, the mist got thicker. I had the feeling we were getting close. I didn't know what might happen next. I sure hoped there wouldn't be another chapter with Amethyst's backstory or something. For now, all we could do was keep moving forwards and hope to find the gems before it was too late.

* * *

 _A/N: Well, time to add 'romance' to the list of tags I don't have room for on the fic. BTW, the inconsistencies with "Same Old World" will be explained at another time, another chapter. Anyways, onto more pressing matters._

 _ **IMPORTANT!**_ _Quick heads-up: One more chapter before the reveal of the side story, as well as more information about it. I'm sorry, I planned on this current arc being a two-parter, but it got stretched into a four-parter as I added more and more stuff. I planned on starting the side story after the end of this arc, and I still am, but you know, it's going to be another few days for the information while I make the last part. Again, more details about the new story then, with the story coming soon after, so fave/follow my user so you'll know when it comes out._

 _I can, however, give you the name right now, so you can get hype and theorize what it means, and what it's about. And by 'I'll give you the name right now," I mean "I'll give the name at the end of the author's note." I have to get people to read the author's note somehow, right? I mean, yeah, you could just skip to the end, but what fun would that be? I at least try to make these notes worth reading._

 _So, I'm giving a quick update to my reviewing policy. I've tried to respond to as many reviews as I can, but I've forgotten sometimes. I aim to rectify that. From this point forwards, if you post a review, I will respond to it, no matter how short! No review left behind!_

 _But that leaves me with a small dilemma. I just had a guest review posted on here, and I couldn't reply to it, betraying my new policy. And it was well thought out enough I thought it deserved a response of some kind! So, from now on, I respond to guest reviews here, in the author's notes. You don't have to read these, they're mainly intended for the poster of the review, but you might glean some facts about the future of this fic._

 _To Bmidd111: I'm glad you're enjoying the story! Sorry, but Jailbreak is a little while off. At the rate we're going (canonically, it's just a few days after Giant Woman) it's going to be awhile until we reach there. But I do have plans for when it does happen, don't you worry. I'll keep your ideas in mind, although I don't know how Jasper and co. would separate Steven and Connie if they can't go more than 3 feet apart. It still sounds cool and I might use some ideas from your message when we get to it._

 _And to Foxsoulredux, a special thank you to you. I never said it in a message, but keep on theorizing my friend, I really appreciate it._

 _And I don't even need to thank you again lemur, you're the only one who's posted about every chapter and even made some fanart just for the heck of it. So, because I haven't said it enough, thanks again. If I was thanking soul, I should thank you as well. It's unneeded, I know, but you deserve another thank you._

 _Moving on, just a desperate reminder to fave, follow, and review. That's all, I won't waste any more of your time._

 _Anyways, next time! We reach the center of the fortress. Knowing me, Something's going to blow up, and there's gonna be a kick-ass action sequence. See you guys then._

* * *

 _What's that you're telling me? Am I forgetting something?_

 _Oh, yeah, the name of the next chapter! Of course! Well then, I hate to keep you waiting any longer, the name of the story is-_

 _Wait…_

 _This story does have a 'Mystery' tag on it…_

 _Doesn't it…?_

 _So…_

 _Wouldn't it be more…_

 _traditional…_

… _to make you break a code to get to it?_

 _ **Cries of "Goddamit MLfan64!" are heard throughout the realm. MLfan64 smiles evilly.**_

 _Ah, yes, the good old cryptic code, a staple of the mystery genre. Hopefully it isn't so cryptic people won't get it before the story itself comes out and it becomes pointless! Knowing me, though, it probably isn't cryptic at all, because I suck at code-making. But hey, maybe that means all y'all will feel fulfilled if you figure it out. If you can solve it, sent me a review or a PM and I'll give you a cookie. No other rewards than looking better than everyone else, because I have no idea what I could give. So, post a review if you want to spoil it, a PM if you want others to figure it out for themselves, the choice is yours. Honestly, this is mostly a test of dedication. Are any readers here skilled enough and willing to do this? Yes, this is most definitely a challenge for you guys. I guess I'm about to find out._

 _Anyways, onto the code itself. Your hints isare: you should know the first few words from the author's note last time, maybe you can work from there. And you won't need any information to solve this that isn't somewhere in the fic. Or maybe you just don't care about the and you're gonna let someone else solve it and mooch off them, or wait for the story itself to come out. I don't know if this is too easy or too hard, I guess I'm about to find out. Either way, solve THIS!_

 _(Line)_

 _1:2:1:1 1:3:4:1 8:14:10:2_

 _5:2:1:1 5:3:14:5 13:23:6:1 4:5:3:3 2:9:32:5 14:10:10:2 6:32:28:5 10:1:4:2_

 _10:14:4:3 7:1:1:1 1:22:2:6 2:2:3:3 10:2:1:4_

 _12:1:1:1 3:4:7:3 5:24:6:1 12:2:21:3 5:27:8:9 12:1:1:5 3:9:20:1 2:2:21:3 5:1:1:2_

 _7:10:48:1 7:10:48:2_

 _4:45:2:1_

 _6:1:3:1 10:3:2:2 10:3:2:3 10:2:6:4 9:9:6:1 6:1:3:4 12:21:9:2 1:2:4:4_

 _(line)_

 _AAAAAND I just spent the last 1 ½ hours of my life encoding that. WORTH IT!_


	16. Weve Gone Too Long Without a Fight Scene

**We've gone far too long without a fight scene**

 _A/N: Before we begin, I just wanted to say, this is the same stuff that happened in chapters 10-11. The next two chapters were originally one chapter, then I divided it into two because it was getting too long. I'm releasing this one today, and the next 24 hours later, so you guys don't have to wait too long on the cliffhanger (Spoilers that there's a cliffhanger? But why else would I split it if there wasn't a cliffhanger?) And the details on the side story will be shown then, in 24 hours, with the story itself coming out soon after. And of course, this means I get to continue the running joke of 'in which an author makes a _ parter into a _ parter. This wasn't planned, I really did plan Mirror Gem to be just 2 parts, but I just had way more things to do with mirror gem to put into two chapters like I originally planned. That's also why this chapter in particular took so long to come out, because I kept adding and adding until it wasn't one chapter anymore. So I'm sorry, but I swear this is the end of this arc. Chapter 17 will be the final chapter taking place just after_ _Giant Woman_ _, then we can finally move on! Anyways, enjoy the chapter._

* * *

With Lapis leading the way, we walked down the hallway, pink mist up to our ankles. We were slowly going uphill the whole way. The hallway seemed to stretch on forever, but even though we were going uphill the whole way, it wasn't tiring. The further we went, the thicker the mist got, so we knew we were getting closer.

After walking in silence for a bit to honor Lappi, Steven said, "Hey, Lapis?"

Lapis said, "What is it?" She wasn't angry, fortunately, just curious.

"You… you know the memory you just showed us? Or, the stupid gem bond, infinity link, or whatever you want to call it just showed us?"

"What about it?" Lapis was in front of us, so I couldn't read her face.

Steven said, "We were a bit busy before, but… what happened? Why did it suddenly stop? What was the Zircon saying about my mom?"

Lapis stopped walking. The two of us bumped into her. "I can't tell you that," she said. She started walking again suddenly, quickening her pace.

The two of us raced to keep up. I said, "But, what made it so bad you couldn't let us know? You let us see Lappi kissing you, something you clearly wouldn't want us to know, you let us feel how you felt while you were trapped in that mirror. If you could stop the memory at any time, why then?"

Lapis slowed down again, slumping her shoulders. "Did it ever occur to you I might not want to talk about all of this?"

I thought that was a good reason, I wanted to back off. Steven, though, was acting odd. He was pushing much harder than I thought he would. "That's not an answer," Steven said.

The air grew colder as the pink mist swirled at our feet. A thin layer of water spread across the floor.

"It was probably a lie anyways. Just something they said to 'break me,'" she said.

" _What_ was a lie?" Steven said. The air grew colder still, and the floor beneath us froze into ice.

I couldn't take it anymore. Lapis was clearly in anguish! How couldn't he see it? The air was literally responding to her emotions, it was so obvious! "Steven, can't you let this go?!" I said. "This is clearly traumatic for her!"

Steven looked me in the eye. "Those gems said something about my mom, and that makes it personal. You saw the torture she went through, you went through it along with her. And she didn't snap out of it, she was strong enough to keep up showing the memory. Lapis has a strong mind, she could take a lot. But then, that Zircon told Lapis something about Mom. Something that horrified Lapis so much that even now, thousands of years later, she can't bear to witness it, so much so that she was able to escape the power of the infinity link."

Lapis grew tenser and tenser. The ceiling of the cave we were walking through formed icicles. Then, with no buildup, Lapis relaxed and the ice all around us disappeared altogether, melting back into the mist where it came from. Lapis sighed. "No, you're wrong. It's not that I can't bear to see it again. It's that you two don't deserve to hear what they had to say."

"…What?" the two of us said simultaneously.

Lapis said, "You're not going to give up until I give you a reason, are you? But you two, you've been through so much. In just the last hour, you've both betrayed Pearl and forgiven her, learned that there were more gems out there, had this whole city float into the air, learned more about your gem bond, lost the gems, had to relive my memories, and found Lappi with me… maybe once all this is over, you can ask me again, but for now, you have so much to think about."

I sighed. "You promise to tell us once this is over?" I said.

"I promise," Lapis said. She looked ahead. "Focus, guys, we're here."

She was right. After this long hallway, we were finally reaching the end. The tracker was glowing like crazy, I suspected the beetle would be in the very next room. There was no doorway, the hall just opened up.

The three of us took a deep breath, and steppingto the unknown. And by the unkown, I mean… Pearl's room? There were the same waterfalls, the same beauty that was always there. There was no doubt about it, we had somehow ended up in the exact same place we started. There was mist wherever the ground wasn't covered with water, which I _knew_ wasn't the case an hour ago. And the weirdest part was, the whole water supply had a pink hue to it as well! But, now that I thought about it… I think that has been the case since we got here. We hadn't payed close attention at all the first time coming in here, but although it wasn't obvious at a glance, the water was clearly not water-colored anymore. It was way too pink. The whole room was way too pink.

Right in the center of the room lay an unmissable large bubble of pink clouds. I pointed the tracker at it, and sure enough, the beetle was inside of it. I reattached the tracker to my belt and drew my swords, just in case

I looked at the others uncertainly. Where were the gems? Where was the entity that we knew attacked Amethyst, and likely attacked the others as well? Maybe I payed way too much attention to video game logic, but usually the treasure thingy you've been looking for ends up being in the same place as the princess, or in this case the gems.

The other two cautiously stepped towards the cloudy shape to collect the heaven beetle and save beach city. I followed close behind, but I wasn't sure about all of this. Yes, I'm pretty sure the water was pinkish before, but that bubble of clouds definitely wasn't there. What caused it to bubble up like that in the first place? So I kept a close eye out. And it payed off. As we approached the clouds, I saw a shadowy figure moving around near the cloudy shape, shrowded by the pink fog coming off of the swirl of clouds.

"Get back!" I yelled. I jumped backwards, pulling Steven with me. Hey, the worst that could happen was nothing, right? If something did happen, we'd be ready for it. And ready we were. The mass of clouds grew a giant… stick thing, and swiped it at us. Steven and I managed to dive out of the way in time, but it hit Lapis squarely in the chest. She went flying off to the side, but she caught herself with some water before she impacted. Steven and I got into our battle positions.

As I looked at the swirl containing the beetle, I saw the shadowy figure run off into one of the exits to the room. Had it been the one to put the heaven beetle in the center of the mass of clouds?

I turned my attention back to the more immediate threat, the rapidly morphing mass of clouds. More sticks came out of either side of it, and the central mass formed itself into two big bulbs. The pink clouds solidified into a giant beetle.

I sighed. "Of course, it's a beetle!" I said. "What else would it be?" Come on, are all of the enemies we fight just going to be giant animals?

Steven called me out for unnecessary complaining. "You have something against beetles?" Steven said.

Before I could answer, the beetle lifted one of its legs and pointed it at us. We were far out of reach, so I didn't think much would happen. Then, the leg extended outwards at breakneck speeds, it was firing it's leg at us like a bullet! I jumped left, Steven jumped right. And for the first time in just about ever, it didn't bite us in the butt! The leg was thin enough it went in between us harmlessly. I slashed my sword through the leg, and it disintegrated back into clouds.

The monster wasn't fazed too much. Another leg just came out like it was nothing.

Lapis had recovered and she launched a wave of water from the left side, knocking the monster beneath one of the waterfalls. The creature howled, and melted slightly, becoming slightly deformed. It quickly dragged itself out from under the waterfall and reformed itself, drawing more clouds into it as it did so.

Why did that waterfall disintegrate it while the water it was standing in didn't seem to faze it? Now that I looked at it, then water on the ground was the only thing with the pink hue, the waterfalls were still a pure blue themselves. So it's only hurt by water not infused with clouds, huh…

I saw no need to say this part aloud, the other two knew the game plan already. Even if they didn't get the full logic, they still knew the game plan: get the beetle under another waterfall.

The beetle focused on Lapis now, angry at her previous assault. It roared at launched its two front legs at Lapis.

"Watch out!" Steven said.

Lapis smiled, though. She spread her wings out and launched herself upwards, easily avoiding the two legs launched at her. She fired two icicle spears at the legs, piecing them and causing them to drop dissipate clouds once again. The beetle launched its other four legs at her, growing new ones to stand on while they launched at Lapis. She danced through the air, avoiding all four easily. Icicles shot upwards from the floor, skewering its other four legs. Unfortunately, her killing the legs didn't seem to do anything except anger the beast further. It had to keep drawing in clouds, yes, but there was a near-limitless supply of clouds in the room.

Lapis turned to see us gawking at her. "What are you doing?" she said. "I can't keep this up forever! Go, attack it!"

Oh, right. We had swords, too. The two of us snuck around its back as it launched another assault on Lapis. I leveled my swords with Steven and we stabbed them straight into its backside! A three-pronged strike. Well, there were three swords, anyways.

…It didn't even howl in pain. It batted us away with one of its back legs, leaving the majority of its attention on Lapis.

I should've known it wouldn't do much. This wasn't acting like the Cerberus from Rose's room; these clouds were different. The clouds weren't creating a perfect copy, they were still malleable, the end results still being part cloud. That's why traditional weapons weren't working and the water was!

"Lapis! You can redirect the water from the waterfalls, right?" I said. That was our best bet, using the waterfalls!

Lapis' answer wasn't encouraging, though. "Um… not currently? I'm a bit busy!" She was still dodging a near endless stream of legs. She was doing fairly well, but as I learned when I fought the bird, she wouldn't last forever.

I looked around. What could we do? Our swords weren't effective. Even if we could get in close enough to grab the beetle, it was protected. We needed to either distract it so Lapis could get it to a waterfall, or get it to a waterfall ourselves. But how?

"Connie?" Steven said.

"I'm thinking. Please, let me concentrate."

Steven sighed. "I know you're thinking. You were thinking hard enough I _heard_ your thinking. Yeah, telepathy, whatever. But I think I might have an idea."

I said, "Okay, what is it?" We didn't have much time, so I tried to talk as fast as possible.

"There are still these pink clouds everywhere. Can't we use them to make things, too?"

I facepalmed. It was so obvious. How is it I always missed the big picture and focus on the little things?

"You're right, the only limit is our imagination! How could I have been so blind?" I thought of what I might want to use to take this thing down. And I had a very fitting idea.

I reached down into the mist-filled water and pulled out a fire hose, with its own water tank and everything. "Come and get it!" I said, turning on the valve and letting the water loose onto the beetle. It hit hard, sending it sprawling to the other end of the room and against the wall. I imagined this thing with to have a lot of pressure. The beetle continued to be pressed against the wall, unable to move, and I expected it to start to melt. But although it was pinned, it took no damage. It stayed its own shape. I looked at the water the fire hose was spurting out and, sure enough, there was a pinkish tint to it. I guess the clouds couldn't replicate things like clear water perfectly.

The beetle righted itself, stomped its foot on the ground, and launched a shockwave towards us. I was knocked down, the hose disappearing back into clouds. The good news was, it no longer had its attention on Lapis. It turned its attention to us and reared backwards, ready to charge us.

…Unfortunately, it forgot about Lapis, who redirected the water from one of the nearby waterfalls straight into it. And unlike my fire hose, the water she redirected excelled at disintegrating clouds. The beetle roared as it got more and more melted. It tried to move out of the way of the spray, but everywhere it moved it found more water waiting for it. It quickly found it hard to move at all. It turned pinker and pinker, starting to drip away into the misty liquid below. It thrashed and struggled about all it wanted, but it was no match to the power of water! I saw a flash of the Heaven Beetle in the center of it, but it was quickly covered by the melting slag that used to be a threatening looking boss.

Suddenly, the beetle stopped its thrashing about and layed still, save a single leg. It was like it was chanelling all of its energy into this one task. It was kind of adorable, one last effort. It slowly raised one of its legs, still being blasted by a cannon of water. It was very determined, I'd give it that. As the rest of it faded away, the last of its legs attached as much mass as it could, drawing in clouds from all sides, and attached them to the other end of the leg.

Just before it did it, I realized what it was trying to do. But it was already too late to stop it. It took the mass it had collected and smashed it down onto the floor! It created a shockwave so massive Lapis was knocked down, temporarily stopping the stream of water. From the mush of clouds, another leg sprouted outwards. It launched it at the waterfall Lapis had been redirecting. The beetle started to reform, shooting Legs at each of the individual waterfalls around the room, knocking them all down. I summoned another fire hose to try to distract it and pin it down, but it pounded the ground with its hammer-leg and I was knocked to the ground again, completely stunned, and the hose disappeared into nothingness.

The beetle knocked down the final waterfall, and turned its attention to the exits. It collapsed the entrance we came through, the exit to Pearl's room, and every other way out excluding the main door. It set a clear message for a beetle that couldn't talk: we weren't getting out of here alive. The beetle finished reforming, and it was like we never damaged it in the first place. It lifted its back portion and sprouted its wings, taking to the air.

The new arena was set. A pool of pinkish water surrounded by a pink mist all over the floor, and trail of pink mist slowly coming from above us. _Wait, what?_ I looked up, and sure enough, there was a door-sized opening with pink clouds slowly pouring out. I didn't have time to think about why, though.

Snd the new challenger was set. The beetle hadn't even sprouted its wings before. But now it meant business. Only one of our two groups would be making it out of here alive. We had a near-invincible beetle to fight. I had a thought. _If this is like a video game boss fight, I guess this is phase two._

The beetle had its full attention on us, the infinity team. It reared back and flew at us, full speed. I froze, but Steven had the forethought to dig his hands into the cloudy water. He pulled up a wall of stone from the mist, and it solidified instantly. The beetle was caught completely unprepared and crashed into it. It was temporarily dazed, so I tried to make up for my earlier mistake by capitalizing on its daze and stabbing into it with my swords! Unfortunately, like before, it had little effect. How could we even attack this thing? Our swords were completely worthless! Now that the water was gone, we didn't seem to have any way to hurt the beetle. I gave Steven an uneasy glance.

The beetle got up, ready to fight once again. Unlike us, it was made from a substance that wouldn't die if you did something silly like stabbing it. Did I mention the 'unlike us' thing? Because we would die if you stabbed us.

The Beetle shook itself off, spread its wings, and charged us again. I summoned another wall of stone. It was unoriginal, sure, but it worked, right?

Yeah, it didn't work. This time, it used its horns to smash right through the stone and kept on charging us. Fortunately, Lapis was there to back us up and blast it to the side with a wave of water. It was a close call, though, too close. Even though Lapis attacked it, though, It was focused on attacking us. It wanted us dead. The beetle quickly charged again, and I had a better idea. I raised another wall out of the ground, this time made of diamond to circumvent the fact that it could break through a stone one. The beetle again attempted to smash it, but it didn't seem to realize that it would be nearly unbreakable. It rammed against the wall and lay on the ground, dazed. As it lay there, stunned, Steven and I had the same idea. We quickly circled it, raising up walls of diamonds as it was stunned, as well as overhead so it couldn't fly out. When came to, it looked around, confused. It bashed into the walls around it, but no matter what it tried it couldn't get out.

Lapis flew over to us. I said, "Okay, strategy meeting. We need a plan to defeat this thing. Let's be fast, guys."

Steven said, "I mean, currently, we're safe, right? We don't technically need to be fast. There's no way it can break through diamond, right?"

Of course, he jinxed it. I looked over, expecting to see it breaking out right then and there. I was not disappointed. The beetle scraped its legs against the diamond, and after enough time it melted away into clouds. _That shouldn't be possible!_ I thought. _It's solid diamond! The strongest material known to man!_

But I thought about that. The diamond wasn't actually diamond, but just clouds, wasn't it? These clouds weren't like the ones in Rose's room, where it creates a perfect copy. The beetle proved that. It wasn't an evil beetle, it was a mass of cloud shaped like an evil beetle. Anything the clouds made was still part cloud, so of course it could break through it… wait a minute, back up. Anything it made was still… part… cloud?

With that, I knew how to defeat it. The beetle flew up high, tired of flying at us and getting hit in the face. It aimed its arms, ready to fire.

Steven was ready to dodge out of the way, but I grabbed his wrist. "Trust me, I have a plan. There's no need to dodge." I said. Lapis saw my confidence. She trusted my plan, and got out of the way.

Steven didn't like it, but he trusted me. The beetle turned belly-up and grew about 10 more legs. It launched its now 16 legs at the two of us. I didn't try to run. I simply held up my hand and waited. The legs whipped around, forming complicated patterns in the air. They took long enough to reach us it felt like they were just showing off.

Steven seemed worried. "Connie, are you sure about this? You're not summoning my shield…"

"I have no plans to summon your shield," I said. I wasn't as sure as I was on the outside, but there was no turning back now.

The Legs were done wrapping in complicated patterns. They all rushed us at once. I calmly held my hand up. Steven covered his face. The moment the legs reached a five-foot radius of us, they all disintegrated into clouds.

"Wh-what happened?" Steven said. "Did the Infinity Link do that?"

I smiled. "No, no. It's so much simpler than that. The truth is, The beetle's just made of clouds. It's not real. And these clouds, we can reshape to our will. All I have to do is will the legs to disappear before they reach us, and they'll disappear without a trace. If you realize that, nothing can hurt you." With that, I started calmly walking towards the beetle. The beetle roared and grew more legs, launching them at us as quickly as possible. I just calmly walked forwards, any attack anywhere near me disappearing into nothingness. None of its attacks did any damage now that I realized the legs might as well have not been there at all.

The beetle stopped launching legs at us and without warning charged us again. I guess it figured we couldn't destroy its projectiles it _was_ the projectile. But that was exactly what I wanted. I held out my hand and the as the beetle charged at us, and as it reached our location, as quickly as the legs before it, it disintegrated into nothingness. The Heaven beetle hidden inside of it fell into the water below, it's cloud protection fully gone.

I grinned. "The beetle failed to realize that it was made of clouds, too, so it would die just as quickly as its legs. I just love clever solutions. Still, I'm glad that's over with," My face darkened and I looked around the room, as I realized what we had come here for. "Where are the gems? We haven't found them yet!"

"I'm sure they're fine. But don't forget the beetle!" Lapis said. "You want to save your home, don't you?"

"Oh, right," I said.

I leaned down to pick up the beetle, glowing lightly in the water. Just as my fingers were about to reach the beetle, though, the water in front of me jetted upwards and squirted me in the face. Steven giggled.

I looked over at Lapis. "Really?" I said.

"I… I didn't do that," Lapis said. She was baffled. And she did not have a good poker face.

I looked down at the water again. _What's down there?_ As I looked downwards, a giant spray of water gushed up at me, with a similar pressure to the one that came from the fire hose. Steven and I were launched backwards.

"What the heck?" Steven said.

I looked at the beetle, and a swirl of clouds spiraled inwards towards it. But I wasn't scared, I knew its tricks. I taunted it. "What next, huh, beetle? Ready for round two? We know your tricks, your weapons don't work anymore!" You might see me as getting cocky, but come on, there was nothing it could do to us anymore.

But what rose up wasn't a giant behemoth of a beetle like we expected, or something equally massive. Instead, a smaller shape emerged from the water. A human sized shape made entirely of water. It seemed… familiar. As it solidified, it took on an ocean blue color throughout. Or more accurately, a lapis lazuli blue. It had turned into a perfect replica of Lapis. Of course, I wasn't scared, I knew how to defeat it. I tried to use the same trick I did on the beetle, raising my hand to disintegrate her, remembering she was just made of water, but it didn't seem to work for some reason. _That's_ when I got scared.

Cloud-Lapis (That's what I'm calling her, anyways) raised her hands at either side of her. Two giant fists of water rose upwards. She made her hands into fists, which the water replicated. She smashed her own fists downwards and the water followed suit, one headed for Lapis and one straight at us. Lapis held up her hands to use her own powers over water to push back against the imposter while Steven and I jumped away. The imposter quickly transitioned into using a new attack, launching a small sphere of water at me, and I tried the same trick I used last time, remembering the ball was just made of clouds. But just like with the imposter itself, it didn't work. The ball of water knocked me down. Cloud-Lapis wasn't launching clouds to form water, she was actually controlling the water around us, making the trick we just used to defeat her worthless. It felt like every single time we made a new way to defeat the Heaven Beetle, it just destroyed the opening we just made!

It was the three of us verse a near-invincible Cloud-Lapis, who was constantly closing off all of the weaknesses we found. A thought echoed through my mind: _Well, I guess it's time for phase three of the boss fight… You know, pretty soon, we're reaching final boss territory here…_

* * *

 _A/N: Welp, another 5-day upload gap. As I said you're getting another one tomorrow, so you're still getting just about an average of one every three days, right? I'm sorry about the inconsistency, but as I wrote more and more into the chapter I knew it wasn't just a one-chapter thing, Just be patient, okay? And the reasoning behind waiting 24 hours, well… doesn't change the update date unless it's been at least 24 hours in between updates. I'm sorry, but I'm human. I like having traffic on my stories, and that's the most effective way of guaranteeing that. But I swear, the end result will be worth it. I really like the next chapter, and that's saying something! Some other chapters I 'really liked' were the ones featuring the fight with the bird and Lapis' memory, so when I like a chapter, you should know you're in for something good._

 _Anyways, I hope you guys all understand, and can hold it for another day. The alternative was just getting one ~10k word chapter tomorrow (I'm not quite done with the other one, anyways), so I think this is a better alternative. You get two full above-average length chapters, so I guess it's fine, right?_

 _Alternatively, if you read this if you're happy you're getting double the content, read only this: Good news: two chapters, today and tomorrow! Lol that's all I got. Maybe I'm being overly cautious and no one cares, but I thought I should explain why it took so long for the thing to come out._

 _So, responding to reviews! BTW, I realized I might have pressured you guys a bit too much to write reviews. I've done a paragraph about it just about every author's note. I just like interacting with my viewers, and reviews are a great way to do that! It's fun, and it motivates me a lot. But what I'm saying is, don't feel like you have to post them. If you do, though, thank you, it really does brighten my day trying to see people try to figure out what's going to happen later on in the story, it's great to see people criticese my work, and it's great to see people say they love my story. It's a great way to encourage me to write more. I write for the fans, and so telling me that you like my story if you haven't done so already shows me I have fans to write for. And, this has just turned into a paragraph asking for reviews, hasn't it? Look, whether or not you're going to post a review, thanks for reading, anyways. Well, I guess I'm just going to respond to guest reviews now… all one of them…_

 _Bmidd111: You know, I actually considered that myself, having Lappi be the gem from Monster Buddies! You'll have to wait and see how it turns out when we get there, but you might have made a somewhat good guess. I love the way your mind thinks, looking at future episodes and seeing what I could do with them! It's so cool to see the dedication. And so I say, keep on theorizing, my friend! Sorry for the wait, you'll have to expect that from me sometimes. I try to get my 3 day deadline, but you'll have to wait occasionally. I sure hope the wait was worth it. But I'm glad you care enough about the fic to check and see when the next part is coming! Look out, Lemur! We might have another #1 fan on our hands. Well… #2, maybe, kind of hard to beat making pieces of fanart… anyways, rankings of fans aside… It would be awesome if you got a non-guest account so I could respond to you personally. Next time, I could tell you I'm not having trouble, and tell you I just needed more time time on the comment you made yesterday. And you don't have to wait days for me to respond!_

 _So, my code from last time remains uncracked. Feel free to take this time in between chapters to try and crack it! I'll tell you this: It's my own variant on a book cypher, that should help you out. Look it up, that should give you an idea on how to solve it. Just one more day until the unveiling of more details on the side story I've been promising, so you might as well have a crack at the code before the details come out on their own and for now you can pretend to be better than everybody else!_

 _That's all for me. So I leave you with this: Will our heroes get out of this one? Of course they will, they're the protagonists. But how will they get out of it? That's the more interesting question. I guess you're going to have to wait until tomorrow. See you guys then._


	17. Is This Arc Over Yet?

_**Is This Arc Over Yet?**_

 _A/N: Just so you know, this story's rating officially got buffed to a T rating due to some harsh events in this chapter. It's definitely big enough a 9-year-old shouldn't read, but if you're 13 or older (You know, a teen), you should be okay. Just treat this as a warning for some events in this chapter._

 _Oh, and I'm sorry for it not coming when I said it would. I really underestimated how much I had left to write! I hope the end result is worth it. Yeah, did I say these two would be 10K together? Try 15K together._

* * *

The fake Lapis had no expression on her face as she held out a single hand and launched a seemingly endless barrage of attacks at us. I weaved around her shards of ice as Lapis got closer and closer to Cloud-Lapis. We had a plan, but it was a pretty loose one. We didn't even have time to say it aloud. Yeah, it was pretty much 'Connie and Steven distracts her and pray while Lapis does ? and we win.'

The fake Lapis wasn't making it easy on any of us. Even if most of her attention was on us, she still threw an occasional shard at Lapis' heart just to try to catch her off guard. And us, it was just an endless deluge with nothing to hide behind and no chance to survive unless we just kept fighting. It had only been 30 seconds and already I had a few cuts and scratches on me. This remined me of the fight with the swarm of birds, except with more dodging and less slashing. Oh, and a billion times harder.

At least our swords were good for something, for once. I could slash the ones that we couldn't dodge.

Another shard of ice headed for my chest area. I easily swung my right sword to try to destroy it. But of course, the Lapis… beetle? It was always learning. My vision slowed down, something that's been happening a lot lately. Another thing to add to the ever-growing list: Can see really fast moving things. Anyways, I saw as the ice shard split off into two, both sides went around my sword, and then it reformed on the other side, still headed straight for my chest.

Surprised, I dodged out of the way, but not all the way. It seriously scraped into my side. I screamed out in pain. Of course, it would be nice if I could summon healing tears at will, but the infinity link didn't work that way. Sometimes, being essentially a superhero sucked, because you're beaten up by villains all the time. Yeah, I'm not telling mom and dad about this part of the job.

After hearing me scream out, though, for some reason, the shards stopped for a second. I looked over at the Lapis imposter, she was hesitating. Could it possibly have some part of Lapis still in her?

The real Lapis took the opportunity to get in close and hold her hands out to the imposter. I think her plan was that, since Cloud-Lapis was made of water, it should be possible to rip her apart into that, we just couldn't do it since we couldn't control water. However, instead of that, she just stood there awkwardly, doing basically nothing. I guess Lapis really was immune to that approach. I don't think the imposter even noticed she was standing there. I gestured Lapis to step down, which she did, a bit embarrassed.

Through the small pause, Steven quickly turned to me and said, "Connie? Are you okay?" Oh, yeah, I had hurt my side.

I nodded. "Forget about me, I'm fine. But look at Cloud-Lapis. She's stopped attacking. What if… we can reason with her?" She seemed to care when she injured me. What if, in replicating Lapis, it went too far, and formed some sort of positive emotions as well as the pure rage?

Maybe that was the case, I couldn't be sure. Still, it didn't' last long. The imposter stomped her foot on the ground, determined again. I wish it showed any expression except for 'blank stare' so I could see if my hypothesis was correct and she was feeling remorse for her actions! It seemed like she couldn't show any other emotion, showing she really was an imperfect replica. But with that blank stare, she raised her hand, and before I could react, she launched a single shard of ice at us, like a bullet.

I was caught entirely by surprise, the shard was heading straight for me. I couldn't bring my sword up in time, and it pierced my heart, killing me instantly.

* * *

Suddenly I opened my eyes and I was back before Lapis threw the shard in the first place. Had the mark given me a vision of the future or something? But for some reason, it didn't glow as it did so…

The imposter again stomped her foot against the ground, and held out her hand. I didn't know what to do, even though I knew what was coming!

As the shard fired outwards, I knew raising my sword would go right around it and it would still kill me. So I did something totally unpredictable: I threw my sword straight at it, disintegrating the ice bolt. Cloud-Lapis was a bit surprised, but it wasn't over yet. She sent another two ice bolts my way. She seemed to be focusing her fire on me alone now. What had I ever done to her? Unlike earlier, she was definitely going quality over quantity. She had essentially gone from a machine gun to a sniper rifle. I threw my other sword, but she was ready for it. It hit one of them, but it just went right through the sword like it was nothing. Both bolts were still both headed straight at me and I had run out of swords to throw. I froze. Yes, I could've pulled up a wall from the water like we had against the beetle, but by the time I thought of that, it was too late. All this happened in around 2 seconds, I didn't have time to think. The bolts of ice came closer and closer, and I thought my vision was about to come true.

Then Steven dived in front of me. He didn't have his shield out or anything, he just used his body as a shield. For a second, I didn't understand, was he going to pull out his shield or what? Then I realized what he was ready to do: he wasn't trying to summon his shield, he was prepared to die. He would rather it be him than me. And that's what pushed me over the edge.

The symbol burned brighter than it ever had before. The world slowed down. I saw the two shards in midair, flying towards us. And while the world was in slow motion, I was not. I brought up my hand in much the same way the fake Lapis was doing. And in front of the two of us, a shield summoned. It wasn't Steven's shield, though. It was purple, for one, and the design in the center wasn't a rose quarts, but a bigger symbol, featuring two crossing blades.

The shards of ice bounced off harmlessly, and the shield disappeared into nothingness.

Time resumed to normal and Steven crashed to the ground.

"What…?" Steven said.

"Later," I said. "We have a battle to win." I grabbed his hand and pulled him with me towards Cloud-Lapis, at full speed. The imposter was not expecting this, as there was seemingly nothing we could do to hurt her once we reached her. My gambit payed off. She didn't throw any more attacks our way, our plan that seemed to have no upsides did have one: it caught her off guard.

 _What's the plan?_ I heard Steven think.

 _I don't really have one…_ I thought.

 _I kind of figured._

 _We'll improvise!_

I thought over my surroundings. Isn't that what we always do to win these unwinnable situations? I mean, yeah, we occasionally pull victories when we really shouldn't with new powers, but I wasn't counting on that any more dumb luck or powers out of nowhere.

Just to be sure, when we reached her, I sliced my sword through her. We never knew, maybe by destroying her weakness to making her disappear by simply willing her to do so she gained a new weakness. We weren't so lucky, the sword passed right through her. However, I was prepared for that. I finished the swing and brought my other hand downwards, pulling it upwards from the watery floor to form a dome of diamond over her head. It wouldn't hold her for long, I knew, but we could at least formulate a plan.

Okay, time to think. What could we use here? She was clearly targeting me for some reason, although I wasn't quite sure why. Could we use that? No, not unless we had some way to kill her in the first place. I scanned the room. My eyes settled on the door. If we managed to open it, we could get her to the outside world? Could we use the fresh water in the real world to defeat her, maybe she still had that weakness? Actually… would we have to? Steven's pink sword disappeared when we left the first time, so if we could just get her out the door, we had already won!

"Steven, you think you can open the door to the temple now?" I said.

Steven was a bit unconfutable. "I-I'm not sure," He said. He understood the plan, mind reading and all, but he wasn't sure of himself.

"Well you'd better be," I said. I reached into the clouds and pulled out a whole truck (Yeah, I started ignoring physics a while ago). I pulled out a rope as well. Just as the imposter broke out of the diamond prison, I tied it around her waist. At this point, she was practically a Scooby Doo villain, falling into this elaborate trap! I hopped in and slammed on the pedal, bringing Cloud-Lapis along for the ride. "Come on Steven, open the door! I know you can do it!"

Steven was shocked by how quickly things were going, and we were quickly approaching the door. Still, he gave it his best shot. He held out his hand, but the door failed to open. The evil Lapis was beginning to break free from her rope-casement, but Lapis flew alongside us and made a rope of ice around her instead.

"You can do it, Steven!" she said. "I believe in you!"

"Me too! You're always there when it counts!" I said.

Steven looked at the two of us believing in him so strongly. What we said weren't just clichés. Be really believed what we said. He could do anything if he set his mind to it. So he tried again. He raised his shirt, touched his gem, and concentrated with all his might. And the door did open. I swung the truck around and Lapis cut the rope, sending the fake one flying into the open door.

I missed the door. Lapis hit the space just above the door. Still, I was close, pretty close for the first time ever driving a car, right? And she was just one good push away from poofing into nothingness. So pretty good if I did say so myself.

I jumped out of the truck and it faded away behind me, I no longer needed it. Steven landed on my right. Lapis landed on my left. I looked at my two friends. The fake Lapis struggled to get up. She was practically defeated already. She was literally inches away from death. We advanced slowly, like one of those awesome superhero movie shots where they all walk forwards together in sync. Cloud-Lapis slowly got up. She slowly raised up her hand like I had seen her do so many times, ready to attack. But Steven held his hand out to the side and summoned his shield on command. I didn't know how, but he did it. Maybe he took the 'you can do anything' to heart. Lapis held out her hand towards her, ready to block any projectile. I raised my two swords to her, even if they were practically useless, they still looked menacing.

Then, the imposter moved her lips for the first time. In a dark, gravelly voice that was the very picture of menacing, she said, "Enough… games."

She squeezed her outstretched hand shut and suddenly water raced up my body, encasing me up to my neck. She twisted her hand, and it turned to solid diamond. And just like that, we were no longer winning. I couldn't move an inch. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Steven and Lapis in the same predicament. Steven's shield had evaporated. Our epic poses frozen in crystal, to possibly be the last ones we ever made.

Lapis calmly walked over to us, the same neutral expression she always had. I struggled and struggled, but there was no way out. It was too tight. I tried to imagine it as just clouds, just water, but it was no use. This Lapis somehow found a way around it. I couldn't get out.

…but that didn't mean it was time to give up yet. I know I said I give up when I run out of tools to use. But I wasn't out of tools to use. She didn't cover my mouth. And while swords are the weapons that win battles, words are the weapons that win the war.

I said, "Cloud-Lapis, please, I know you understand me. You know English. And you felt sorry when you actually injured me, right? Come on, I know you have empathy there somewhere. I promise, if you set down your weapon, we won't hurt you. I know you're in there somewhere, Lapis."

Cloud-Lapis hesitated. And because of that I knew I was getting through to her, even if just a little bit.

Steven joined in. "Please, Cloud- no, please, Lapis, I promise, if you don't fight us, we won't fight you."

"I know how it's like," Lapis said. "Waking up, thinking everyone is your enemy. But fighting isn't the answer. Trust me, I know."

Cloud-Lapis raised her hands and covered the two of their mouths with diamond, like she didn't want them to speak anymore. But she notably left mine open. She reached into eh water at our feet and pulled out a sharp shard of ice, which she levied at my neck. Again, the message was clear. I had one last chance to prove myself.

I couldn't stop tears from coming down. I had been close to death before. Hypothetically, I had died thrice in other timelines, maybe four times if you count the vision just now. But it was always in the middle of an intense fight. But this was like when we were falling to our deaths, except somehow worse. We were all helpless, there was nothing I could do to stop it if she chose to swing that sword. And so my tears came.

"Please, Lapis, or beetle, or whoever you are. I know you aren't heartless. And I know, we attacked you back, so you might feel justified in attacking us. You might think we're the bad guys. I promise, if you drop your weapon, we won't fight back. We won't bubble you But please, don't… I- I don't want to die…"

Lapis raised her icy blade. It was over. I didn't get through to her. I closed my eyes and waited for her to kill me. What would death feel like? Was there an afterlife? Even if it couldn't cut diamond, she could get around it. She could control it to be whatever material she wanted it to be. I was already dead. I waited for the impact.

…but after waiting for 15 seconds, that impact never came. I creaked my eyes open, and I saw Lapis standing there, holding that pose. Her hand shook, the ice shard was raised high into the air. But the impact never came. Seeing my innocent eyes, she took a step back and dropped her shard. Maybe… maybe we did get through to her.

Cloud-Lapis finally committed, though. She picked the ice off the ground, and swung it in an arc, right at my neck. Time slowed down. I saw the sword head for my neck, and I still couldn't break out. I couldn't even close my eyes. And then, Cloud-Lapis pulled out. She changed the angle on her sword. She wasn't ready to take my life. The sword hit the crystal, but missed my neck. I was right. She couldn't kill me. Words really did save my life.

But she finished her arc. I saw her decide on what she would do. If she wasn't going to cut off my head, that didn't mean she was done. Again, I struggled, but I could move nothing. I might as well have been a statue. And att the end of her arc, her sword sliced my left hand clean off.

* * *

It's impossible to describe the pain I experienced right then. My hand was gone. This wasn't a vision, I didn't go back five seconds and have another chance to stop it. My hand was clean off my body. I saw the crystalline form of my hand crash to the ground, still gripping my sword in it triumphantly. The stump that used to be my hand wasn't bloody, that's a saving grace. It instantly sealed itself off or something, leaving it look like it was cut off long ago. I'm betting just another perk of being in a gem bond, not bleeding out. But a downside was that I was _missing my left hand!_ Maybe I could heal it later. I didn't know. All I could feel was the pain.

From Cloud-Lapis' blank expression, a few tears fell. But still, she slowly raised her sword again. She was resigned, now. She had no choice but to finish what she had started. She There was no way I could reason with her anymore.

And even through all of that, I hadn't given up.

You might think me crazy. Cloud-Lapis was beyond reason, I was trapped, the other two were trapped, and I was missing my left hand. But I hadn't given up yet. Because Lapis was giving us time I could see a timer ticking down to my death. But until that timer hit zero, I still had a chance, the time when we fell to our deaths proves that. She wasn't attacking, not yet. So through the pain, I thought through everything I had witnessed. I couldn't see anything useful anymore, just a wall. I couldn't scan my surroundings. But maybe I could remember something that could save my life. I knew, the chances there was something I could do was one in a million. But one in a million is still not zero.

I noticed it took Lapis a bit of concentration to keep us encased. If she lost that, we would be set free. But how could I break that concentration? I couldn't try to jumpscare her or anything, she didn't seem scared of anything. She clearly felt me crying, but even that didn't break through to her. So that route was yet another dead end.

I couldn't rely on my gem powers, I knew that, they were inconsistent at best. They didn't stop my _hand from getting cut off!_ So what else was there? We couldn't get her Lapis out the door anymore, yet another thing that would require moving. But that's just what we knew. What had happened today that hadn't yet been explained? The mist hadn't been explained, and we used that earlier, it saved our lives. Is there anything else we don't know the full story behind? Well, we still didn't know where the gems were, but that wouldn't help right now. Anything, no matter how small, that was still a mystery. Because what we knew for sure wasn't helping.

…I remembered one thing. The source of the mist in the first place. I wasn't sure if it would help, but maybe, just maybe, if I could figure out what it meant… It had come from high above, right? I couldn't turn my head to look at it anymore, I had no other information on it, so how would I figure out what it meant? Or… maybe I did have some other information on it. Because I remembered something. There's only one place I know that these pink clouds come from: Rose's room. We've been in that room twice. The second time was when we fought the hound.

But the first, we used it as a shortcut to get to Pearl's room. And we never closed the door. We never closed the door from Rose's room to the temple, so it stayed open. SO why wouldn't that door stay open as well? Wait… didn't the door lead out of the ground? Why would the clouds come from above? But I didn't think we were back to square one. It seemed plausible that there was an opening from Rose's room to this one. The more important question was, what could we do with that information? Escape into Rose's room? Maybe if we escaped from the diamond prison, we could fly with Lapis up there, but you know, we couldn't do that. So great, yet another thing that would've helped, but only if we figured it out earlier. Did I do all that logic for nothing?

No. There was one thing I could do. I wish it wasn't the only option, but it was the only way out I could see, if it worked at all.

As Cloud-Lapis readied another strike, maybe to cut off my other hand, and maybe to finally cut off my head, I yelled out, "Room, initiate duel with Cloud-Lapis!"

I wasn't sure if it would even work, maybe Rose's room was too far away to hear. But fortunately for us, it did. A shockwave was sent throughout the room. The door to the outside world closed suddenly. Lapis froze, and every molecule in her body solidified. She started writhing on the floor. Due to the feeling of suddenly solidifying being apparently so painful, she lost her concentration. And the three of us tumbled out of our crystal prisons.

The first thing that happened was that Steven ran over and hugged me. "Oh my god, oh my god, I am so sorry, Connie. I tried to stop it, but I couldn't. Please, you have to forgive me. You lost your hand because of me!"

I actually laughed at that. "It wasn't your fault. The shard of ice wasn't in your hand, you have nothing to apologize for." I looked over at Lapis.

Steven's expression changed to one of absolute and utter hatred. I didn't think it was possible for Steven to be so angry. But he drew his sword and walked slowly towards Cloud-Lapis. She had gotten up, but was standing on steady legs. She wasn't used to being a solid entity.

Cloud-Lapis launched a few shards of ice at Steven. But he slashed right through them with his sword, so fast she couldn't even dodge around it. He kept advancing.

Cloud-Lapis backed up slowly. But her back was, ironically, to the now-closed door to the temple.

Steven reached her position. Cloud-Lapis summoned a spear of ice, but Steven slashed right through it with his own sword. He wasn't taking prisoners.

Steven then raised his sword and cut Cloud-Lapis' hand, the one she kept raising to launch all the little things at us, clean off. "Now you're even," he growled.

I might've defended her on another day, said Steven was too harsh. But I just wasn't up to it. I just lost a hand, she was getting what it deserved. I walked up to her and gave her a few lashes with a sword as well. Heck, a few more than a few. After I was done with her, I was surprised she was still alive.

She raised up her hand at me again. To attack, or to ask for friendship? I didn't know. Either way, she didn't deserve my mercy anymore. I kicked Cloud-Lapis away. She fell to the floor, a few feet away from us. Even through all her wounds, she struggled to her feet again. She summoned a cane of ice just to keep herself up. It was sad, really. Her entire existence was only to fight. She slowly raised her arm, trying to launch something, anything at us. Her body wobbled, becoming more and more watery. Her face finally changed for the first time since she had appeared to fight, into an expression of pure rage, and then she poofed away into clouds.

As clouds dissipated, the beetle could be seen in the middle. It seemed to drop downwards in slow motion. And we both simutaniously remembered what happened the last time the beetle reached the water. Steven and I bolted at it as fast as we could, but it was going to be close. I knew we couldn't let it touch the water, or we would have a fourth boss phase on our hands, and it would just find another way around its weaknesses! We didn't have the stamina to survive another round like the first three. Two beetles and a Lapis, what could possibly come next? I took a dive at it, I had to stop it from hitting the water! I still had one hand left to use, that was good enough for me. It couldn't even scrape the water, we couldn't take that chance! Steven was close enough to me that the link wouldn't be a problem, it wouldn't keep me from reaching the beetle. This would end now!

But as I reached out, as I got closer and closer, I realized I that after all that, I wasn't close enough. I did the calculations in my head as time seemed to slow to a crawl. In my mind's eye, I saw my hand go towards the beetle, I saw my fingertips miss the beetle by something like a millimeter. Then I saw it fall into the water below and instantly form into whatever abomination might come next.

And in the present, the same vision in my head was happening now. My arm reached out, but I was just short. And the worst part was, there was nothing I could do. I couldn't summon the clouds to form a net or something, or the beetle would just use the clouds used to make the net to form into something else. I was stuck going forwards, I couldn't alter my momentum in any way in the midair. Lapis was too far away, and Steven was farther away than I was. I just needed another inch, but there was no way I could get the inch. I braced for the impact against the floor, and for round four… hopefully, we could take it without losing my other hand…

* * *

But my calculations were wrong. There was still something I could do. As I reached out, the mark on my hand flared purple. My arm turned a pure white and grew longer, as well as the rest of my body. I felt my other hand grow back as well. As my entire arm glowed white, the mark on my hand still glowed purple, but its color changed slightly, becoming a redder tint. My now extended hand closed over the beetle just before it hit the water and I held it up high as we tumbled to the ground, somehow managing to keep the thing from touching the water. I scraped against the floor a bit, but I think it was worth it.

I opened my hand, and there it was, the heaven beetle right in my palm, which was oddly still glowing. Oh, yeah, and I was Stevonnie, who I guess had two hands like my Steven half.

Lapis gawked at us.

"What?" I said. "You've seen my fuse before through Pearl's eyes. Do you have something against fusion or something? Nice to meet you, by the way."

Lapis said, "No, no, I don't care about fusion after… after Lappi." She looked at us wistfully for a few seconds before shaking it off. "But… the two of you, though, before you fused, you weren't even touching! Steven just faded away, and Connie grew into… you."

I shrugged. "Infinity link stuff. 'Can fuse without touching.' We should have Pearl add that to the list."

"You seem way too happy for someone who just went through all that."

I shrugged. "Keep moving forwards, that's my motto. Right now, I'm not missing a hand. Maybe Connie will get hers back when we unfuse! Here's hoping!"

Lapis shook her head. "How do you guys put up with this? You don't care that every day something new might happen and you won't be ready for it? You don't even know if your hand is coming back and you don't care?"

"Trust me, you'd last a day, then you'd give up. This thing is completely unpredictable."

I tossed the beetle up in the air a few times like a coin. If it was about to throw up, _good_. "No wonder the gems wanted to catch this thing a few days ago. For something called the heaven beetle, it's pretty evil," I said. I threw the beetle high, giving it a nice topspin.

"Be careful! We're not ready to fight something like that again!"

I threw the beetle up again. "Come on. I have two times the concentration right now. There's no way I could miss." Again, I caught it.

"Ste… Conn… whatever your name is, would it be so hard to stop doing that?"

"Just one more!" I said, throwing it as high as I could. "It's Stevonnie, by the way," I said.

She looked up for a few seconds. "…So when is it coming down?"

"Wait for it…" I said.

Finally, it came downwards again, landing squarely in my palm.

"You're trying way too hard," Lapis said. "Couldn't you just, you know, not throw it up in the air at all?"

I pouted. "I'm trying to be cool. Aren't teenagers supposed to act cocky all the time?"

"How would I know? I just regained my ability to hear today, remember."

"Whatever," I said.

Lapis grew a concerned look on her face. "Is the beetle glowing right now? That doesn't seem good."

I opened my palm and looked at the beetle. At a glance, yes, it appeared to be glowing. But looking closer, it was just the infinity symbol that was doing so. It was glowing a pinkish-purple, which I should've figured. A fusion of pink and purple.

"It's just my mark that's glowing. This is the first time I've fused since Steven and Connie had their marks revealed in full. Maybe that just happens when I'm fused? Or maybe it was because we fused through the link itself. Weird." Looking closer, the mark looked a bit different, but with the beetle in the way it was difficult to make out much detail.

Then, I got a lot more detail, because the beetle jumped off my hand and into the cloudy water. "No!" Lapis and I simultaneously yelled. Before I could react, the beetle hit the water. I quickly reached into the water and summoned two new swords. I stood in front of Lapis, ready to fight back.

The beetle, though, didn't summon a protective barrier of any sort. The water beneath it slowly raised upwards and towards me.

Lapis took a few steps back, but I didn't. The beetle, it didn't seem hostile. Even if I couldn't see its face, my Steven side was very good at seeing emotions, and I didn't see anything malicious about it. I cautiously lowered my swords.

The beetle raised a platform of water up to me, and rubbed against my cheek. I was shocked, it was like it was a completely different person! Well, a completely different bug.

"Well, I'll be…" Lapis said.

"It's adorable!" I said. I put it back in my hand, slowly petting it.

"Are we sure this is the same bug that tried to kill us countless times?"

"Pretty sure. You know… what if… what if that shadowy figure…"

"What figure?"

"Right before the fight, Connie saw a figure lurking nearby the cloud hiding the beetle. What if it did something to the beetle, some sort of mind control?" Then I realized. "Where are the gems? We defeated the beetle, but they just aren't here! What if that person kidnapped them?"

"We'll find them. I just know it." Lapis said.

I looked around for an exit. But the beetle had destroyed the room in between phases one and two.

 _Phases one and two?_ Steven thought.

 _Inside joke._ Connie thought. _I'll explain it to you later._

Anyways, the only way out was the door. And this time, it would not defeat me.

I touched the gem on my waist. That still felt so weird to my Connie half. I concentrated hard. I concentrated on the fact this was the only way out, and that I knew the gems were safe. They wouldn't go down so easily. We could rewire the beetle tracker to track the gems. We would find them. But to do so, I just needed the door… to OPEN!

Finally, the pink gem on the door flashed, and it faded away. I would've pumped my fist, but I was in a rush. I grabbed Lapis' wrist and pulled her through the door, which closed it behind us. We spun around and looked at the door again, ready to look elsewhere.

"Okay, door, I want you to open for me. We've checked everywhere else, maybe they're in Rose's room. Come on, open!"

"S-Stevonnie? What are you doing here? Who are you looking for?" I heard a voice coming from behind me. Pearl's voice. I turned and saw the three gems we all came to know and love.

"Guys? What are you doing here?" I said.

"I just asked you that!" Pearl said. "We went into the room searching for the beetle tracker, and when we come back, seconds later, you follow us out the door, fused for some reason!"

"What," I said. It wasn't even a question, that statement was just so fundamentally wrong it was baffling. "How long did it take you to look for the tracker?"

Pearl cocked her head. "Something like ten minutes. We looked in my room for a short while, looked in Amethyst's room for a few more minutes, failed to find it, and left. Why?"

"That doesn't make any sense!" Lapis said. "We were in there for an hour looking for you guys! And we heard Amethyst scream in terror!"

"I never screamed at anything," Amethyst said. "You must have been hearing things."

"All of us are hearing things?" I said.

"Step back a bit," Pearl said. "An hour?"

"Yeah, we had a fight with the heaven beetle and everything," I said, holding up the beetle.

Garnet snatched it out of my hands. "I'll lower beach city, that's more important right now. Pearl, fill me in later on what exactly happened." She walked out the door, presumably to lower beach city with the beetle.

After that little interruption, Pearl said, "Again, you had a fight with the heaven beetle?"

"It's complicated. The beetle went psycho and attacked us, but after the battle when we captured it, it was totally docile."

Oddly, Pearl nodded in understanding. "The beetle responds to emotions, that's why we wanted to capture it. Whatever last touched it, it takes on the emotions of that person or animal. It powered up that bird in the mountains, for instance, to be hyper powerful. That's what the bird you fought was, byu the way, just a regular old bird addicted to the power of the Heaven Beetle. But the beetle attacking you like you said, someone with an intense hatred for you must have touched it before you."

"The figure! They must have been working in the background the whole time!" I said.

"What figure?" Amethyst said. "I'm sorry if I missed that part, but this is getting interesting."

I said, "The whole time we were down there, things were carefully orchestrated. If you didn't scream, Amethyst, there must have been someone able to somehow replicate your scream perfectly. They set out the tracker for the heaven beetle so that we would find it, then put it in the pink clouds hoping it would be able to kill us! Who could've done that?" I thought about mentioning how they weren't as evil as we thought they were, saving Connie's life, but I left it out. It still cut off her hand, that's still evil.

"Okay, could you back up to the beginning? You're saying stuff that makes no sense," Pearl said.

I sighed. Of course, it was up to me again to recount our adventures. I mean, I guess I had never done it, but Connie had, so it was basically the same thing. I took a deep breath and explained everything that happened in the depths of the temple.

* * *

Of course, I left out the specifics of Lapis' memory, only the fact that we saw it and that she brought Lappi with her. You know, privacy and all, which the Link itself doesn't seem to care about. Everything else I was pretty accurate about.

We reached the boss fight with the beetle. Well, we reached phase one. When I started describing the beginning of phase two, Pearl butted in.

"You destroyed my room?!"

I cocked my head. "Technically, the beetle destroyed your room," I said.

Pearl simply ran past us and threw open the door, rushing through it. I heard her scream before the door slammed behind her. I chuckled.

"So…" Amethyst said. "There are a lot of things Pearl would probably be asking right now. A long _list_ of things, in fact. So let me start with this: we already mentioned this, but let me reiterate: for the three of us, we were in there for 10 minutes, went out the door, looked around for you for a few seconds, and then you came out behind us. You're telling me that the time in between you walking into the room and us coming out took an hour?"

I nodded. "Maybe it was the link or something. It does seem to have time manipulation of some sort, right?"

Amethyst shrugged. "Meh, you're asking me? This is Pearl's territory. She rants about how little sense it makes to me all the time. I just go with the flow."

I felt the ground shift. I think Garnet was using the heaven beetle to lower beach city.

I wasn't convinced by Amethyst's nonchalant attitude. "Yeah, maybe the how isn't _that_ important in the present. But there's still someone out there who has an animosity towards us and somehow got into the temple! What if we aren't safe?"

Amethyst looked at us for a few seconds. Then, she laughed out loud. "You're serious?"

"What?" I said.

"You two singlehandedly just defeated a near-invincible foe without breaking a sweat. Heck, just in the past few days, Connie defeated a near-impenetrable bird, you both defeated a Cerberus, Connie did decent in sword-fighting with Pearl, and now you defeated that thing? If someone's out for your head, they're going to have to try a little harder than that!"

I laughed at that. "Thanks, Amethyst, but we can't take all the credit. I mean, I wouldn't say we didn't break a sweat, for one thing. Connie did…" I hesitated to mention the hand thing. I was worried the gems would get so angry they would bomb-rush the temple and try to kill the figure working behind the scenes. I chose to leave that out. "Connie did get injured. Also, we weren't alone. Lapis was with us, and we wouldn't even be past phase one without her help." Actually, that reminded me, there was something I wanted to ask her! I had wanted to ask her for a while now, and now that I had a bit more courage since I was fused, as well as the fact that we weren't in mortal danger, I could more easily do so. "Hey, Lapis? I know, it's been confusing the last few hours, but… wait a minute." I looked around the room, and it was only me and Amethyst. Lapis was nowhere to be seen. "She was right here with us five minutes ago, I swear! Where… where is Lapis?"

Looking around again, I saw a note on a table next to us. I unfolded it and read it.

To Steven and Connie:

I'm sorry I couldn't stay any longer.

Please, keep protecting each other.

Be each other's Lappi.

Goodbye.

-Lapis Lazuli

I ran over to a window and looked out into the sky. She never even told us what that Zircon said… Wherever she was, I hoped she was safe.

* * *

Lapis Lazuli

* * *

I orbited high above Earth. The first time I had seen it in five thousand years, not counting the gem bond showing me my own memory. And looking at it now, it had barely even changed at all. Amazing. Five thousand years ago, every time I looked at Homeworld, it was a little bit different, a new structure visible from space. But here, there'd barely been any change in since I got here. I still kind of saw what I saw all that time ago. The mix of green, blue, and white, it still was breathtaking. Why couldn't I let the earth go after being trapped here for such a long time?

I tore my eyes off this planet. I was never coming back here, right? So why did I find it so hard to start my journey towards homeworld?

Maybe it was the kids. I had fun with them. I smiled. And that isn't just nice because I didn't have a mouth for the past few thousand years. Yet I left the two of them without even saying goodbye, just a short letter and that's it. Then I snuck out while they explained the story to Pearl. But I knew what they would ask. 'Will you please stay here on earth?' 'Will you become a Crystal gem?' It would break my heart to say no.

No matter how much those kids make me think differently, my true allegiance is still to Pink Diamond, not the traitors that shattered her. That Pearl is lucky Connie stopped me, or I would've shattered her, then and there. All of them are lucky that the earth has a few things on it worth saving, or else they would learn the true might of a Lapis.

…Oh, who am I kidding? If I had a chance to kill them all, I wouldn't have the guts or the passion to do it. I'm not some villain. I just want to go home.

As I flew into the great emptiness of space, I opened my locket. Maybe, in the past thousands of years, homeworld learned to uncorrupt a gem and I'll get Lappi back. Maybe things can go back the way they used to be, maybe the two of us can finish what we started so long ago. I can only hope. I flap my wings and start the long, long trek into the depths of space in hopes to reach homeworld…

* * *

 _A/N: Sorry for it taking longer than intended. Personal stuff came up and I couldn't get it done quite in time. I got it done as soon as possible, I'm sorry for the longer wait than I said it would be. Anyways, on to the happier stuff!_

 _I really hope you like that fight sequence, that took me so long to make… please, if you did, leave a review telling me it was as awesome as it sounded in my head. And if it wasn't… please let me know, so I can improve for the future. And if you want more of these, rather than going 5 chapters without, just let me know. Look, I love writing these fight sequences, so I want to know if you guys love reading them._

 _FYI, the rest of this was written before I decided to split the chapters in two and had trouble getting this out on time. So have fun reading this little time capsule. I would still read it, as there you'll see the details on the side story. So read that, it's still accurate. Yeah. Okay, I'll leave you to my past self's ramblings, then._

* * *

 _You know, I kind of imagine Lapis having an anime opening where the opening shot of it is her looking into her locket, staring at Lappi's gem, closing the locket, and looking off into the distance, at the sprawling homeworld. I'm not asking anybody to make this, because that seems like asking a big much for a fanfiction (that single shot might take a month to make), but I think it would look pretty cool._

 _One more silly thing until the important info: Pretty soon I can list two tags that_ don't _fit my story. So that's pretty cool._

 _ **The important information:**_ _Speaking of Lapis, the side story that I announced a little while back! So, I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is, as you may have guessed from the ending teaser, I'm launching a side story focusing on Lapis Lazuli and her adventures on homeworld, coming sometime in the next week. There… might be Peridot there as well. Oh, who am I kidding, Lapis and Peridot are the dual leads. If you want the title, better solve the code from last time! :P It still remains unsolved by anyone. If you don't feel like it, just look out for a new story starting with 'The Infinity Link,' starring Lapis that's written by me, you'll see the full title then and be underwhelmed. The two stories will run parallel, focusing on either side of the events happening both on earth and on homeworld. You shouldn't have to read both to understand what's going on, but I would recommend it, as one might give insight into what's happening in the other. And if you only pay attention to this one, you'll get half the content._

 _Which leads me to the bad news… yes, you guys are still going to get two chapters a week, but not on this fic alone. I simply can't do 3-4 chapters a week now that school's started, two for each story, and for that I'm sorry. From this point forth, my effort's going to be split between the two of these stories, one chapter a week each, alternating one after the other. I suppose I could just make chapter 18 of this story a Lapis chapter and just keep it as one story, Alternating between the two POVs, but I don't like that idea. The two fics are in the same universe, but star different characters. How would it be if, in the next chapter, suddenly Lapis gets a POV? How would I put_ that _in the story description? That's why I made the choice to split it in two. Don't worry, it'll still have the same mix of heart, comedy, action and mystery you guys know and love. Just fave and follow the other one when it comes out and your chapters/week from me won't decline at all._

 _Again, that's coming sometime this week, so again, fave or follow my user so you don't miss it._

 _To Bmidd111: Yeah, the reason I answered vaguely that last time was to fake everyone out on the fact that Lapis was still leaving, I already had decided against it by that time. That means I won't forget about Centipede, don't worry. Yeah, My plan has always been to send Lapis to Homeworld, I can do so much more with her there then on earth. But hey, I might still do something similar another time._

 _And some total theory bait for all of you: the shadowy figure working behind the scenes. I can tell you right now, it's someone we've already seen, either on the show or in the fic already, not some weak 'Plot twist! It was all done by someone we've never seen or even heard of before!' So it's up to you guys to try and figure out just who it might be. I'll reveal it in the story whenever it's convenient to the plot, so you might have a bit to wait ;)_

 _And what's that I hear about Connie mysteriously being able to see the future? And that it happened multiple times? And what are you spewing about Connie summoning a shield of her own? Nonsense._

 _Next time: You know how I promised I would do a timeskip soon? Well… can you wait another chapter? Because oh, boy, do I have an arc planned next time. But I hope to see you on Lapis' story first, where we see if Homeworld's all it' cracked up to be. Either way, see you guys then._


	18. 8 out of 10, Not Enough Fight Scenes

**7.8/10 not enough fight scenes**

 _A/N: First order of buisness: in case you missed it, I have a new story, titled_ _The Infinity Link: Chronicle of a Teardrop._ _It features Lapis' adventures on Homeworld. If you haven't done so already, check it out. Also, fave and follow it so you'll still get two chapters a week from me. Similar premise to this one, but Peri and Lapis get linked. It's where half of my work is going from now on, so I would highly suggest checking it out if you still want 2 uploads a week from me. Again, read and fave/follow that if you haven't done so already. That's all for now, but I have some more to say at the end of the chapter._

 _2_ _nd_ _order of business: I have a plan to revamp and re-edit chapter one of the story, then all the other earlier chapters. Because, you know, pretty much every author ends up doing that. Of course, I'm always looking to make my story more appealing to newcomers. My goal is and always has been a selfish one: get ALL the followers! Popularity's important, okay? I'll notify you guys when it's done. For now, just a heads-up for the future, the next chapter might have a small delay while I'm doing that. I'm just trying to improve the opening of the story so more people will get to the better stuff, I.E. the emotions and fight scenes, and the overall mystery._

 _Remember: Check up with Lapis on my other story. On with the adventure!_

* * *

Lapis was gone. Just when she was turning around, just when she started smiling again, she just left us. I guess I thought she might stay, once she knew how earth was.

I guess she did say she wanted to go home. She did say that earlier. But would it have been so hard to say goodbye to us? Say goodbye to me? We shared all that and she ran away.

Be each other's Lappi, huh? That might be difficult if we remained fused.

My Connie side wasn't happy at that joke. _Was that you, Steven?_

 _Come on, you can't blame me for every bad joke we think of._

 _But I can blame you for this one._

Our inner ramblings were interrupted when Pearl burst out of her room. "Amethyst, you still have the Temple reset button, right?

I blinked. "The temple itself has a reset button?" I said.

"Yes, yes, of course it does," Pearl waved her hand and said, dismissing the question. Oh, yes, of course. Why wouldn't there be a reset button for the temple? That's a totally normal thing for ancient temples to have. "As I was saying, you still have it, right, Amethyst?"

"I thought you wanted me to get rid of all my junk. Now you want me to have more of it?" Amethyst said. She was still sitting on the couch, lounging while everybody else worked.

"Oh, enough of your attitude," Pearl said. "I miss when we could openly hate each other. Can you just answer the question?"

Amethyst said, "Of course I have it. I don't get rid of any of my stuff, why would I lose something so important?"

"I'm not worried about whether you have it or not. What I want to know is, so you know where it is in that giant pile of junk?"

"I told you, I have a system."

"Then could you get off your butt and come over here?!" Pearl said.

Amethyst rolled out of her chair and faceplanted into the floor. "Ow!" she said.

"Not funny," Pearl said.

"I thought it was funny," I said.

"You're not helping!"

Amethyst pushed herself upwards. "Alright, I'll find your reset button. We'll be back in a few!" she said.

The two of them walked into the temple.

But I stopped Amethyst before she could walk all the way through the door. "Hey, thanks," I said.

"What for?" she said.

"For trying to cheer me up after Lapis left. I know that faceplant wasn't on purpose."

"Oh, that? You're welcome." She seemed proud of herself. You know, even if Amethyst wasn't as good at fighting as Garnet, or as anylitical as Pearl, sometimes, we needed a little fun.

"You coming or not, Amethyst?" Pearl yelled.

"Got to go!" Amethyst said, rushing into the temple as the door closed behind them. Then it immediately opened and they walked back into the house.

"-don't understand why it wasn't there," Amethyst said. "I swear, somebody must have moved it!"

"You're _sure_ it isn't just misplaced?" Amethyst said.

"I would go on that stupid tour the humans made of that one gem monolith if I was wrong," Amethyst said.

I just gaped at them. "What's wrong?" Pearl said.

"Didn't you two _just_ walk into the temple?" I said.

They exchanged a glance. Amethyst said, "No? We were in there for, like, 10 minutes."

I remembered. The temple was for some reason going in super-slow time.

But then, why? We never answered that. Why did the temple have slow-mo, anyways? Okay, maybe I didn't have enough information to solve that. But I could ask, why did it sometimes not have slow-mo?

 _Connie, is this really the best time for this?_ Steven thought.

 _It's always a good time to solve a looming mystery!_ Connie thought.

 _Didn't we have enough of that during the fight?_

 _You underestimate me._

I started thinking aloud. "You were in there for ten minutes, but for us it only felt like a second or so, right? That correlates with when we went in for around an hour but for you guys it felt like just a moment. Any yet… when the three of you entered the temple before we did, you said it only took you ten minutes on your end, and it only took around ten minutes on our end as well. So the question is, why?"

Pearl thought about that. "You're right, that does seem odd. Maybe the slow-motion only started the moment you guys entered?"

"But that seems way too convenient. And even so, we're left with the question of why it didn't start until we walked in. And I don't think we can just blame the link on this one."

"I'll leave this one to you guys," Amethyst said. She plopped herself back onto the couch. "I stopped worrying about this a while ago."

Pearl didn't even acknowledge her. "For the record, I was in the temple for a few days cleaning up and attempting to get the waterfalls back up before I gave up and looked for the reset button. I suppose it's only been an hour or so here?"

"Try 3 minutes," I said.

"Of course," Pearl said.

"But that leads back to the question at hand. To start with, how long has the time-slowing effect been around?"

"Now that I think about it, I do think there were times when I went into the temple in the past few days for around thirty minutes, and when I got back barely anything had changed. I didn't think much of it."

There was the proof I was hoping for. The effect didn't start when we entered the temple. "Which makes it all the more mysterious that time flowed normally for a good 10 minutes."

Pearl sighed and shook her head. "Only you could notice such a small detail so quickly…"

I got a bit defensive. "Who? Steven or Connie?" I said.

Pearl was a bit confused. "The two of you, together, of course. The infinity duo, remember? Who else would I be talking about?"

I smiled. Pearl was getting that I wasn't just Connie. She hadn't even realized what I was angry at. "I'm sorry I brought it up. Anyways, I might have a theory on why time suddenly moved quicker."

"What's your theory?"

"Why do you not, the moment you enter the temple, start moving at the speed of sound from the position of those outside the temple?"

"I… I don't understand the question."

"If it was just the act of being in the temple itself that triggered it, then if someone entered, they would suddenly speed up. They could look out and see time moving super slowly. So, what if, when the door was open, time flows normally?"

Pearl nodded. "That would make sense." She gestured for me to continue.

There were a few moments of awkward silence, because I didn't have anything else, I thought that logic would be enough. I pouted a little. "Come on, I don't have the answer to every question you ask! That's all I know for now, just that time probably flows normally while the door to the temple is open. Shouldn't that fact be useful if you want to go into the temple and don't want time to stop to a crawl?"

"Yes, yes," Pearl said. "But usually, when you enter that phase of pure concentration, you get a lot further than one step."

"Yeesh, cut me some slack, Pearl. I can't be the one to solve every problem that comes our way! Can't you guys do some of the logic for once?"

Amethyst finally rejoined the conversation. "Not me. Why do you even care about solving this? Aren't you… well, isn't Connie the one always saying you stopped worrying about solving the mystery of the link a long time ago?"

I was getting really exasperated, now. I wasn't angry, I was still smiling, but really? "Come on Amethyst, I thought we were over with this! I'm not just Connie, I'm the best parts of Steven and Connie. So, I'm fine with theorizing about the link. That, and the room shouldn't have anything to do with the link, so she'd be fine thinking about it anyways. Eh, tomayto, tomahto. My point is, it really shouldn't be so hard for you guys to understand. I mean, look at me! Why do you guys keep mistaking me for her? Great, I look feminine, but I'm much taller, my skin's a bit lighter, I have a gem in my chest, and heck, I currently have one more hand than her! Is it so hard to grasp we're different people?"

Amethyst had been a bit guilty-looking through the first part of the rant. But by the end, both Pearl and Amethyst were a bit confused, and I wasn't quite sure why. I mean, I thought it was a decent rant.

Amethyst hopped off the couch and did a full lap around me, looking me over. She said, "Could you step back to the 'having one more hand than her' thing? I mean, Opal has four arms, so I yeah, I know fusions can have multiple arms, but as far as I can tell, _you_ only have two. Did you discover a third arm while you were in the temple or something? Is that how you ended up finally defeating the beetle? Does it sprout from your chest all alien-like or something? Oooh, or maybe it sprouts from the glowing spot on your palm! Armception! Come on, don't leave us hanging!"

The smile faded form my face. Oh, right… I never got to explaining the final part of the battle… I never told what that clone did to me…

I felt the ground shake. An earthquake? No, not quite, it didn't last as long. Then I remembered, we were trying to lower the temple! So much had been going on, I kind of forgot the fact that was our goal in all of this. I guess Garnet finished getting it back to the ground, hence the shaking. I heard some cheering, too, so unless the people of beach city _really_ liked earthquakes, I was pretty sure beach city was lowered to the ground. And then Garnet stepped into the room, heaven beetle in hand, and the odds were approaching 100% it wasn't an earthquake. The beetle itself was way too adorable for something that tried to kill us multiple times.

Garnet said, "I'll be right back. I need to put the beetle into its cage." She walked towards the door to the temple.

Then I remembered what I was going to tell Pearl and Amethyst again, and Garnet needed to know, too. I stepped in front of her before she could make it to the door. "Wait. Before you go, you should hear what happened there." I looked at my left hand, the one without the glowing symbol on it. "What happened in the temple." I closed my left hand into a fist.

Seeing the determination in my eyes, she nodded, walking over to the couch where Amethyst was sitting.

I looked at my hand. It was so weird, how half of me wouldn't have one whenever we diffused. I was kind of scared, honestly. Scared to diffuse. Imagine that. Me, Stevonnie, scared.

But even through that, I couldn't stay like this forever.

 _Are you sure, Connie?_ Steven thought.

 _Maybe we'll be lucky, maybe my hand will've grown because of the link or fusion or whatever._ Connie thought.

 _But… what if-_

 _You're the one scared to diffuse, not me. You have healing spit, right? We're going to be fine. I'm going to be fine._

Steven hesitated before thinking back, _Okay, I trust you._

"Are you going to begin yet?" Amethyst said.

"Patience," said Garnet.

I sighed. I would have to diffuse sooner or later, and I didn't want to get addicted or anything like Garnet warned us about. Sure, I was sad to go, but knew Steven and Connie would call on me sooner or later.

Plus, this was going to be a really cool way to start the story.

I closed my eyes and felt myself diffuse.

* * *

I was Connie again. And gosh darn it, I still had one hand. I guess I shouldn't have expected otherwise, but it was still a shame. Couldn't that be a part of the infinity link, regrowing limbs? Or maybe I could've gotten a copy of Steven's arm, that would've worked. Oh, well, I knew I'd been getting it back soon.

When I diffused, I was holding Steven's hand, like in a handshake. My right in his right. It made sense. After all, it would kind of be hard to be his left in mine.

 _How do you make jokes about this?_ Steven thought.

 _Because I know that it's going to be pretty easy to reattach my hand? Also, because I'd rather joke about it instead of freak out?_

 _Fair enough, I suppose._

I realized that to the others, we had just been standing there awkwardly for around 15 seconds. Amethyst said, "So… are you going to start _now,_ then?"

I was about to say yes, I was ready, but Pearl spoke first.

"Wait a second, Connie, what's wrong with your hand? Pearl said.

Darn, she ruined the moment. I had my hand hidden in my pocket, but I guess it wasn't enough to get past Pearl. I think being a sword fighter, she had to What I had wanted to do was hide my hand, only to reveal it dramatically later on when I go to the part where cloud-Lapis cut my hand off. Oh well, I wouldn't be a very good performer if I couldn't improvise!

 _Seriously? The thing you care about most here is theatrics?_ Steven thought.

 _I miss when you couldn't hear my thoughts._

I pulled my stump of a hand out of my pocket. All three of the gems gasped.

I smiled, though. "Does that explain why she said Stevonnie has one more hand than me?"

"Are you kidding me?" Amethyst said.

"Are you okay?" Pearl said.

"What happened in there?" Garnet said.

"Whoa, whoa!" I said, "Hold up a moment. Does it look like I'm in pain or something?"

"You're missing a hand!" Pearl said.

"It isn't that bad, is it, Steven?"

"It kind of does look pretty bad," Steven said.

"Oh, quiet, you. I just think the best way of telling you what happened would be to start from the beginning again. Sorry if you're impatient, Amethyst, but I'll try to be quick about it."

The gems had been effectively shut up. Not because I asked them, but they were just in shock. Either way, no Amethyst interruptions would we nice.

 _Are you sure you haven't been hit with an illness that makes you way too okay with losing limbs?_

 _Quiet! It's time to do our dramatic Segway!_

 _…Fine._

The two of us spoke in tandem. "Let us tell the story of how we saved beach city…"

(line)

By the time I finished describing the story, the three gems before us were… angry.

"So yeah," I said, "we won, and apparently there's a portal to Rose's room somewhere in there. You might want to deal with that if you didn't find it. You didn't happen to find my hand lying around somewhere, did you, Pearl? I'm sure we can easily reattach it with healing spit."

The gems… didn't exactly share my cheery demeanor.

"Where the hell are they?" Amethyst said. "How did someone like that get into the temple? Where did they learn the inner workings of everything?"

"We need to find them. They need to be poofed and bubbled." Pearl said.

"Come on, guys," I said. "I'm fine, I've said that already. I'm not in pain anymore, we already won."

Garnet said, "You're wrong, Pearl." She summoned her pounded her fists together and summoned her gauntlets. "They need to be shattered."

Yes, it might be weird, but… I didn't want them to kill whoever was behind this. Even though they cut my hand off, and yes, that sucks, but I was still pretty sure that wasn't going to last, and further, they didn't kill me when they had the chance! So they had to be redeemable somehow, right?

Steven agreed with me on that one. He saw into my memories of the event while we were Stevonnie, of course, so he saw the Pearl clone not kill me. Although, I think he's just about the only one who would agree. And neither one of us knew how to defend someone that attempted to, you know, kill us.

The three gems rushed into Pearl's room, but I stopped in front of them, blocking the door. "Stop!" I said on impulse.

Pearl cocked her head. "What's wrong?"

"We don't want you to kill them," I said.

Pearl's confusion deepened. "You killed the beetle three times. Why would it matter to you?"

"No, we just destroyed an illusion formed by clouds. But killing a real person, no matter how evil, is just wrong."

"…you aren't kidding?" Amethyst said.

Steven said, "No, Connie's right. If you find them, poof them, maybe, but shattering is just wrong. Look, now that the door's been closed for such a long time, they've had weeks to hide! We're likely not going to find them, wherever they are. For now, could you please just grab Connie's, um, left hand? It should still be on the ground right by the entrance?

Pearl said, "Can't we do both? If your conclusions are right, we have plenty of time to search every nook and cranny of the temple and it won't even be that long out here. Well, search every nook and cranny of Amethyst's room."

"Hey!" said Amethyst.

"Why aren't you taking us seriously?" I said. "Why do you want to kill whoever did this so badly?"

"They hurt you," Garnet said. "Anybody who has so much hatred inside of them that they would go so far to set up a death trap like that doesn't deserve to live"

Steven said, "But violence isn't the answer! Does Connie look like she's angry? Does she want revenge?" Steven's mood suddenly went from angry to sad "Look, we just barely escaped with our lives. Connie says she's fine for now, and it's not that I don't believe her. I just can't help but worry. What if she hadn't just lost her hand, what if she had lost her life? I was trapped in place, unable to move or help in any way I could do nothing but watch as that Pearl swung her sword in that single blow. If you guys run in there and try to defeat the villain, I'll be in the same position. If you leave us here and hunt them down, what if there's some other convoluted plan, what if they found a gadget in Amethyst's room or something and one of you falls in battle while fighting with the mastermind behind all of this?" Steven started crying. I didn't even know he felt like he did. Neither one of us wanted them to go into the room, but I guess it was for very different reasons. I guess this link doesn't show all our feelings to each other. "Please … no more fighting, not today…"

Garnet just walked over and hugged Steven.

Amethyst said, "Is that all, you big lump? Come on, do ya think we'd fall that easily? We've had 5 thousand more years of experience than the three of you combined!"

Pearl thought about that. "Technically, Connie defeated the giant bird monster when we didn't even dent it, experience or otherwise…"

"Never mind the little things like that, P," Amethyst said.

After we had all calmed down a bit, and they agreed not to do anything brash, and we had told them about how Lapis had left as well, since Pearl was a bit confused about that, we went in to grab my hand so we could reattach it.

I thought it would be fine to go it alone, just Steven and I, but the gems didn't exactly see that as an option. So, the two of us went in with three magical bodyguards instead. Honestly, it was probably safer, anyways.

Pearl's room was looking a lot better than it had been. Pearl had apparently been working on getting her room up and running for a few days, based on the timing of it, and it showed. The entrances and exits had been cleared of rubble, and there were a few waterfalls high in the air. There weren't nearly as many as there had been, but it was improving. The water was still pinkish, though. I guess Pearl hadn't gotten to that yet.

My crystallized hand, though? Nowhere to be found. It should have been right by the entrance, but it wasn't.

"Amethyst, I swear, if it washed into your room again…" Pearl said.

"Hey, it's not my fault!" Amethyst said. "I didn't build the temple to have a waterfall that led straight into my room. I, in fact, was heavily against the idea."

"What? You were the one who suggested the slide in the first place!"

I interjected. "Can we just go to Amethyst's room already? I… I kind miss my other hand." Yeah, as assured that I was that my hand was coming back eventually, it was still pretty awkward not having a left hand. You would be surprised. You should cut off your hand for a day and see how that feels! Actually… don't do that? I won't be liable if you cut off your own hand.

The others quickly agreed and we slid down to Amethyst's room. I guess having only one hand gives you a lot of leverage.

We reached Amethyst's room at the end of the slide. We searched all the usual places, but for some reason it wasn't there. Even looking in the places Pearl's stuff never ended up, my hand was… nowhere to be found? Even after searching for a good while, it was still MIA. Garnet put the Heaven beetle in the burning room as we searched, safely bubbled. No more evil Lapis clones. But even after she came back, we couldn't find what we came for.

"Come on, where is it?" I said. I was getting a bit scared. I had been operating under the assumption that I would be getting my hand back soon, there was nothing to worry about. So I was fine with joking around all the time and such. I didn't think it would be permanent! Okay, I had to be rational. It had to be in these piles somewhere, right? Where else could it have gone?

…I knew exactly where it could've gone…

Steven felt my sharp transition from confusion to sadness. "Connie, what's wrong?" Steven said.

I ignored his question. "Guys, stop," I called out. We had been searching for a good 20 minutes, and we hadn't come even close to finding it.

She saw my face. "Are you okay, Connie?" Pearl said. She realized I might be worried we wouldn't find my hand. "There's a lot of junk in here. I just know, we're getting close! Just think for a little longer, okay?"

"No, we're not getting close. The door was closed for what, 5 minutes before Pearl opened it again and rushed into her room? The shadowy figure was still in there, they had no way of getting out in the meantime. And in the temple, right now, that's a good five or so days. Whoever's still in here probably has my hand."

"That's ridiculous," Pearl said. "What could they possibly do with your hand?"

"They could keep it from being reattached to me," I said.

Everybody froze. We all thought over the ramifications of that. If we didn't end up finding it in here, then it probably meant I was right. And that meant whoever it was somehow knew about Steven's healing spit, because if they didn't it wouldn't matter to them whether we had my hand or not. A villain with that knowledge… what could we do to stop them? That, or they kept my hand as a trophy, although that was just about equally terrifying.

"Okay, time for plan B," I said.

The rest of the room was snapped out of their thoughts. "What?" Steven said.

I wasn't going to let a little thing like my hand possibly being gone forever get in the way. "If we can't get my hand back, there's always another way. Consider this: I bet the gems have a replacement hand lying around here somewhere. Humanity already has some pretty decent false limbs, I'm sure the gems, with their tech still thousands of years ahead, already have a false hand in here somewhere, right?"

Silence. "Um…" Pearl said.

And, there went plan B. "You seriously don't have fake hands made yet?"

"We're gems," Pearl said. "If our hands got cut off, they kind of grow back…"

My frustration faded as I thought over the ramifications of that. Wait… did that mean I wasn't going to get my hand back? I hadn't really… considered that…

"Connie?" Steven said. I think he was getting a whiff of my fear.

How long would I have to wait? No, what if I never got it back? I started breathing heavily.

Garnet and Amethyst exchanged a look. "So, does this mean we're fine with hunting down the messenger of evil that did this?" Amethyst said.

"No!" Steven shouted, but I wasn't thinking about that. My hand might've been gone? Forever?

"Please, don't joke about that," I said. They didn't deserve to be shattered… right?

And then, Pearl broke the silence. "Everybody, out. Now!" Pearl yelled with incredible force.

"What-" Steven said.

"I said, out!" Pearl said. I couldn't read her emotions, but they wasn't angry. More… determined. Other than that, she was unreadable.

Without needing any other direction, Amethyst, Steven and I rushed to the door. I trusted Pearl. Garnet hesitated, then followed us. We all ran into the beach hut, all of us extremely confused.

"Don't open the door until I'm done," Pearl said. She extended her hand and the door slammed shut.

We looked at each other. "…what just happened?" Amethyst said.

Well, something that certainly made me stop thinking about my left hand. So if that was her goal, she did a pretty decent job.

Garnet, though? She wasn't shocked in the slightest. Future vision, maybe? But shouldn't she have not been able to see it? We were there, after all. Maybe I was thinking too deeply into it.

I shook my head. Pearl does these things sometimes, doesn't she?

Suddenly, the door opened, Pearl at the door. "Done already?" Garnet said.

Pearl didn't answer. She left the door open as she sprinted upstairs, grabbed something from our room, ran downstairs, and sprinted back into the door, closing it behind her. Steven and I looked on with blank stares.

Well, this was confusing. But… it was a puzzle, right? And I loved puzzles. So maybe, if I wanted to avoid thinking about it, I should treat it as such.

I was counting upwards. It had been about a minute, so whatever she was doing, it was taking her awhile. I mean, maybe she was just trying to get my mind away from the fact I didn't have a hand? I doubted it, she wouldn't waste a day of her life just for that.

And suddenly I realized, oh my god, what were my parents going to say? I hadn't even thought about that until now. They hadn't even heard what had happened in the past few days. I promised to keep them up to date on what was happening to beach city. Mom hadn't been happy hearing about me falling off the temple, and that ended up with no injuries… I don't know _what_ she'd do if she saw my missing hand…

Okay, Connie, stop thinking about all the negatives. Back to what I was thinking about, what is Pearl doing? 2 minutes, or two days now. And what did she grab from upstairs?

Suddenly, a thought pierced through my inner ramblings. _This is all my fault…_

I turned to Steven sharply. I was getting better and better at this telepathy thing, or at least knowing when it happened in the first place. And if I'd read the emotions right, I'm pretty sure I just heard Steven feel guilty somehow for my hand getting cut off.

 _Are you insane?_ I thought back.

… _You heard that?_

 _Now you know how I feel when you were hearing my thoughts. But that's not important, did I just hear you blame yourself for my hand getting cut off? I know what you said just after the battle, ut I thought that was your emotions talking. You're telling me you still believe that?_

 _Come on, Connie. You can't understand. I was right there, right next the evil Lapis, and I could do nothing to stop it. You know what, before my mouth was trapped,_ _I_ _could've told the room to initiate Combat mode, why didn't I do that? Or maybe I just wasn't convinced enough that the diamonds were just clouds and if I was I could've broken through… but I did nothing._

 _Stop. Stop it right now. You're just being stupid. There was nothing any one of us could have done, except for see the future. And we're not Garnet. The cloud-Lapis had removed every option you could've used. There was literally nothing you could've done, that's a fact._

 _If our positions were switched, you'd be the one feeling bad._

 _And you'd be the one convincing me nothing was wrong! What's your point?_

"So are you two lovebirds going to kiss," Amethyst said, "or are you just going to keep staring into each other's eyes?"

"Amethyst!" we both said. I guess that, since no one else could hear our thoughts, it looked like we were just staring into each other's eyes.

"Oh, did I ruin it? I'll leave you be, kiss all you want."

"Amethyst!" we said again.

She laughed a goofy laugh. _Thanks, Amethyst._ I thought.

 _You're welcome!_ Someone thought back. I looked around for a second. Did Amethyst just… respond to the telepathy? But no, Steven was hiding a snicker, it was his response. I gave him a noogie with my good arm.

Even now, Pearl hadn't come out of the room. I wondered what was taking her so long? I was pretty sure she wasn't just working on her room… oh, well. You know, I kind of wanted to read a book… and that gave me an idea. "Hey, Steven? I keep trying to get you to read the Spirit Morph Saga, right?"

Steven shifted in his seat. "Yeah, why?" he said.

"Well, I kind of want to read it, but I'm kind of one hand short. I need two hands to read, after all. So, I don't suppose you'd want to supply a hand and read it with me?"

Steven shifted. "Well…" he seemed disproportionately hesitant.

"Okay, what possible reason could you have for not doing it, I'm curious."

And Steven broke. "I've seen the entire book through your eyes, okay? When we were Stevonnie, I've seen you thinking about it, I know all the twists already. I know how it ends! I didn't want to say anything, you seemed so excited." He looked so guilty, it was kind of adorable.

"Seriously? Just because you've seen some of my memories, it doesn't mean you've actually read it, for crying out loud! I've been spoiled on twists before, but I still enjoyed it! Come on, we're reading chapters one and two, right now. Get over here." I pulled him over to the couch through the link. I've found that sometimes, whoever has the stronger will can pull the other through the link or keep the other from pulling them. And I definitely had the stronger will, here. We were talking important stuff, now: books. Steven never stood a chance…

* * *

We finished chapter one, and still, no Pearl. Hey, at least Steven liked it! Anyways, it had been something like 40 minutes, over a month in Temple-time. Assuming it was a 1 day-1 minute ratio, of course.

Just as I was thinking about that, the door to the temple opened. And out stepped Pearl, incredibly frazzled, yet still triumphant. "Well, I'm sorry for the wait, it took me a tad bit longer than I expected," Pearl said. "But I've done it."  
"Done what?" Steven said.

Pearl smiled. "I've made a new hand for Connie," she said, taking her left hand out from behind her back. It wasn't Pearl's normal hand, though, it was some sort of gem mechanism. The hand portion was painted brown, to match my skin tone, and various other bits of mechanisms ran down her arm. It looked so awesome, perfectly steampunk. And I should've known. Pearl found something that ancient gems hadn't built yet, and she put the responsibility on herself to build it.

She clicked the mechanism off and picked it up in her other hand. I was a bit shocked to see that her left hand was gone underneath, completely severed, but it quickly grew back. I stood with my mouth gaping as she walked over and started attaching it to my left hand. Slowly, feeling returned. It tightened on my arm as it went, but not so much it hurt. As she attached it, she said, "Don't worry about the tightening, It should reshape to whatever the size of the user's hand is, just in case we need it for someone else later on. I tried to get the hand movements as fluidly as possible, until it worked even faster than my real hand, but I'm sure it's not perfect. It might only be equal to your real hand, reaction-time wise, I'm sorry if it is. Let's see, it has nearly infinite stamina, and some slots so we can add attachments later in case we need it. Oh, what else, what else… oh, yes! How could I forget about combat applications?"

She took a step back, my hand no fully attached to my arm. I flexed my new fingers, and it was as if they weren't a replica. I touched my left hand with my right, and holy crap, I could feel it. My new left hand even had some sort of nerves on them? And this only took Pearl just over a month to make?

"I'm sorry if it isn't perfect," Pearl said, "I worked as fast as I could. How is it?"

My mouth just hung open. I slowly turned my head to her. "You built this in a month?"

"Well, about a month and nine days, to be fair," she said.

"Y-you said there were combat applications?" I said, kind of worried at what there might be. Could it 'only' create a flamethrower, act as a functioning rifle, and punch with the force of a thousand men?

"Oh, yes. well, if you swing your arm like so," Pearl said, swinging her arm horizontally, "and be sure to think about wanting it to happen. I designed so it wouldn't happen unless you specifically wanted it to. As to what it does, well… how about you try it for yourself?"

I mimicked the motion Pearl had done. I felt the gears click in the mechanism, and from the gears and tech running up and down my arm, the golden sword came out of actually nowhere and seemed to appear in my hand. Summoning my sword at will and never never being caught unawares ever again? Yup, pretty equivalent to the flamethrower-rifle combo.

I managed to keep a straight face when I said, "Come on, that's it? Doesn't it have super-strength with it or something?"

Pearl shook her head in earnest. "I toyed with the idea, but it was hard to calibrate. If you punched with the force of a thousand punches or something, how would I stop it from causing you to break someone's neck when you're trying to hug them? I'm really sorry I couldn't do anything about it, I was working as fast as I could. Maybe with another month of testing…"

I sheathed my sword, ran over, jumped up, and hugged her around her neck, interrupting her. "Pearl, this is perfect. You're a genius."

"Well, I wouldn't go that far…"

"I would," Steven said.

"Stop it, you two. You're making me blush…" Pearl said.

"Could you always do that?" Amethyst said. "And expanding on that, could I have one?" Amethyst asked.

"Is your hand possibly irreversibly cut off?"

"…No?"

"Then how much would you give me?"

"What, now you're asking for a price? I thought we were friends!"

"It took me over a month to make that."

"But by our time it was under an hour."

"But it still took me, the hands that made it, a long time. Do you have any idea how many times it blew up in my face?

"But you're practiced now, I'm sure it wouldn't do it too much."

"I cut off my own hand!"

"Then you could just design it so you didn't have to cut off your hand to make it work…"

I listened to their banter back and forth and smiled. You know, things were on the up. No more looming threats, save the creature lurking in the temple. Although, we could avoid that by simply not going into the temple, because the doors won't open for anyone save those five gems. Whoever was there was only a threat inside the temple.

It was over. Maybe we would have some time to sit down and talk about everything that happened for once.

You know there's always a trigger phrase in fictional media that makes something bad happen? Something like, "Things are on the up?" Yeah, I thought that and nothing happened. Because that isn't our trigger phrase. Our trigger phrase is "Sit and talk about what happened." Because the universe refuses to let us have a break.

As Pearl and Amethyst argued, I felt an intense pain right on my right shoulder. It was like I had been shot! I grabbed it with my new left hand, but there wasn't any injury there of any sort, not that I could find. The pain kept getting worse. I tried to scream, but no words came out. It was too painful to scream. I crumpled to the ground, and I noticed Steven did as well. Was he grabbing at his chest as well? I couldn't tell, my vision was suddenly so blurry. I thought everything was going to be okay…

The pain somehow intensified further. The gems rushed us, trying to see what was wrong with the two of us, but all I saw were a few blurry figures. When I felt my shoulder, I felt something… solid. Was my mechanical arm acting up? I tried to reach my right hand upwards to feel at it, but I couldn't. I was so weak. I barely raised my right hand when my vision cut off entirely and I passed out.

* * *

 _I have a creed, now. Never end without a cliffhanger. How else will I keep you guys coming back?_

 _On to more important business… Okay, right now, I have something to say, to get off my chest. A question: is it worth it to keep Chronicle of a teardrop as a separate story, or cut my losses and combine them into one story, this one? I'm not really sure. Here's what I'm thinking: maybe I went overboard. Maybe I should've just added chapters with Lapis and Peridot and alternated them on this story from now on. Because right now, it's a confusing mess, and anyone just finding the other story first would be just confused on how to read them. And unless somebody tells me otherwise, I think that makes more sense for me to combine them. So if you like that it's two separate stories, please, say so! I just doubt anyone will. Unless somebody tells me otherwise, I think I'll delete the other one, add that chapter as chapter 18 and make this one chapter 19. I would still be alternating chapters, but on this story instead of between the two of them. It'll be a lot of work, yes, but I like it better than the alternative._

 _But until I make my decision, still feel free to read Chronicle of a teardrop in the meantime! If you haven't already, it still has my traditional charm, and I do like it enough to com_

 _And don't forget to say something in your review about the actual chapter and not just whether to merge or not! I still love seeing people commenting on the plot and stuff._

 _On to happier stuff, I want to encourage people to post some side stories. Only if you want to, of course, but I think it'd be pretty cool to see your spins on the idea. I talked about that on Chronicle of a Teardrop, but you know, nobody read that. I'll say it here, I would love to see some side stories posted from fans. Maybe explore Lappi and Lapis' adventures prior to the main story, maybe do some AUs of this AU where it's a new pairing or something. Lapis/Pearl, maybe, Steven/Amethyst if there are any Smokey quarts fans out there, maybe even Connie/Lapis. Or some one-shots going over the episodes I missed, if I skip your favorite chapter. If any of the stories are good enough, I'll accept them into cannon, maybe even use some of their ideas in my story. Go wild! As long as you make it clear that it's my idea in the story and start with 'TIL:' or 'The Infinity Link:' in the title, and as long as you let me know that you're making it, the more the merrier. Honestly, if you like the idea and want to post something all your own, maybe even a similar concept in another series (Dipper and Mabel, anyone?), all I can say is, free advertising! As long as you clearly state it's based on my thing, I'm fine with it? Don't pass it off as your thing, because that's pretty scummy. So if anyone would do that, I would be overjoyed. I hope it'll be like the fanart when someone decides to do it just 'cause. As I said on the other story, if I aim for the moon and miss, at least I'll land amongst the stars._

 _Responding to your review, Bmidd111… well first, stop posting guest reviews so I can respond right away! I couldn't even tell you when this would come out until it actually came out in the first place. I don't exactly know how to make that stop, but I think that making sure you were logged in would work. Anyways moving onto the comment you posted last week, about how the shadowy figure couldn't be a homeworld gem: who knows! You might be right, it might not be homeworld's fault, you might be wrong as well. But when I reveal who it is, I promise, it won't come out of nowhere, people will be less "Seriously? I couldn't have seen that coming," and more "Wow! How did I not see that coming?" Always pay attention to the little details, I might leave a door open in Pearl's room in chapter 6 only to bring it back into play in chapter 17. You know, fringe example. So if you want, you can reread the story to see if you see any clues you might have missed the first time around._

 _Anyways, whether the stories fuse or not (See what I did there?), next time, you'll see Peri and Lapis up against Blue Diamond, then we'll see what's wrong with Connie. And yes, like I promised, we're skipping forwards in time. Goodbye, Giant woman, I hope to never see you again! Next chapter: Connie invents time travel just to time travel back to giant woman XD. See you then._


	19. In Which the Author Goes Of the Deep End

**In Which the Author Goes Off the Deep End**

 _A/N: We just passed the 100K word mark! Initiate party poppers. Phwee! Phwee!_

 _Surprise! I'm sure you didn't expect_ this _for another few days. So, after writing the first chapter of the CoaT then coming back here, I realized something: I like writing this one a million times better. So, here's the new game plan. I still plan on updating the other one occasionally, but this is my priority again! I promise, even if I release a chapter on the other one, I'll try my hardest to get two chapters a week over here. Unless I say otherwise, CoaT is not dead, but updates will be incredibly irregular. This story is my priority, I'm sorry I needed to go through the confusion to make me realize that._

 _I've chosen to keep them as separate stories. But that one will be a side story, not a mandatory read or anything._

 _Next, as I said I would last time, I massively overhauled chapter one, a few new scenes and rewriting 90% of the dialogue. It's mostly unnecessary to read, but you can read it if you want to. It might give a little insight to what happens in this chapter. Just read the brand new opening and you should be fine, read on in chapter one only for some fleshing out of the later scenes and more natural dialogue._

 _You back? Good. Because it's time to find out where this chapter got its title. Oh yeah, also for me to likely lose half my fanbase. Because although I've done a lot of strange decisions in the past, but you ain't see nothin' yet. I had a lot of ideas I was going to put into other stories, but then decided to just put in this one because I liked them. For example, I have a really cool arc planned that could easily just be its own story coming in, like, 30 chapters. But of all the things I was going to make into other stories, this is the biggest one…_

* * *

I opened my eyes. It felt like it had only been a few seconds, but I was lying in our bed. All that adventure, Lapis Lazuli and all that… it wasn't a dream, was it? Yeah, I'm pretty sure the last 7 or so chapters weren't a dream.

I rubbed my eyes. If I was out at least for the time it took me for them to carry me here, how long _had_ I been out?

When I blinked to clear my eyes, I saw something. A flash, an image ingrained on my retina. A left hand, reaching out to some sort of weapon, or attack. It seemed to be some sort of strange arrow? Was this a vision or something? I reached over to grab the notebook at the bedside so I could draw what I just saw. I instinctively reached over Steven to get to my notebook. I fell over, though, due to one problem: Steven wasn't sleeping next to me.

Startled, I looked around. Steven… he wasn't on the bed. If he wasn't there, then, could- could the Link have been broken?

My shoulder's slumped. No, Steven was here. He wasn't sleeping at my bedside, but he was sleeping on a chair at the other side of me. I tentatively rolled to the side, and yep, I still felt the link. You know, I was beginning to think this would never-

Wait. No more complaining until I was sure that Steven was okay. I couldn't believe I forgot, I saw Steven fall to the ground, too. What if he was hurt?

I jumped out of bed and ran to his side.

I shook him. "Steven, wake up! Are you okay? Come on, answer me!"

Steven rolled over. "Five more minutes…"

Oh, thank goodness, he was fine. At least, he was conscious. "Steven, come on. If you want to get to sleep, could you do it in _bed_ next time?"

He rubbed his eyes. "What if I feel like sleeping in a chair?" Then his eyes flung open. "Connie! You're awake!?"

"…Duh?"

Steven's eyes teared up. "Oh, thank goodness. It's been so long… I thought you might never…"

I froze. "How long have I been out?" I said slowly. Had it been 5 years since I was out or something?

"It's been eight days…"

I let out my breath. "Oh, just that long? I thought I had been gone for, like 80 days, at least!"

Steven wasn't amused. "Really, Connie? Do you have any idea how worried I was? I thought… I thought you were never going to wake up…"

I felt just a fraction of his sadness and fear. It nearly made me keel over. It must have been terrifying, being unable to leave the side, unable to ever forget, even for a second, that your best fried is in a coma and you don't know if they'll ever wake up.

"I'm sorry for making you wait for so long, Steven," I said.

We stared at each other for a few seconds.

I flashed him a smile. "So, are we cool, then?" I said.

"Seriously? It's been 15 seconds since I found out you were okay!"

"But I want to move on to more interesting things!"

"More interesting things? _What_ more interesting things? What could be more interesting than knowing you're okay?"

"This," I said. I reached to the table at his side and grabbed my dream journal. It hadn't gotten much use since the link formed, for some reason the link stopped me from dreaming or something. Anyways, I drew the image on the paper, the same one I saw when I woke up. A hand trying to stop an arrow of swirling light. What did it mean?

"What… is that?" Steven said.

"That's the exciting thing! I was out for 8 days, right? Yet I don't remember anything. The logical question is, why?"

"Exciting!?"

"I have no memories at all. As far as I was aware, I felt an intense pain, then I woke up in this bed, eight days later. So, what happened to me in those eight days?"

Steven looked at me with a blank look. "You were asleep. Why would you remember anything?"

I grinned. "That is an excellent question. Why _would_ I remember anything? But if that's the case, you know what? Why do I remember this?" I pointed to my drawing. "This is what I saw when I woke up, a single flash. If there was nothing to remember, why do I see this, then? Is it a vision of the future? Because it seems way too specific to be something completely unrelated."

"Whoa, whoa, slow down for a second! Where's all this energy coming from?"

"I just had eight days of sleep!"

I expected him to play along, talk with me. But he just looked away.

My smile faded. That image wasn't that important. "Hey, what's up?"

He refused to meet my eyes.

"I can see into your memories and emotions if I want to, you know. Sometimes accidentally. Come on, tell me what's wrong."

Steven met me in the eye. "I thought… I thought you might have been gone. Day after day… even if it was only eight days. Do you have any idea how scary it was for me?"

I nodded quickly. "Of course I do! I can see into your emotions, can't I? I thought that maybe I could cheer you up by being full of energy. Is that the problem? Did you think I was setting aside your fears or something?"

"No, that's not it. Look, I promised the gems I would look after you. They're out on a mission, taking care of some weird plants in a pond or something. And I promised to look after you, make sure I'd be there if you woke up. But look at me, you woke up and I was asleep when I should've been watching you. What if something went wrong when you woke up, and I just slept right through it?"

I was silent for a few seconds. What do you say to that? Finally, I said, "Steven?"

"Yeah?"

"I was gone for eight days. You couldn't stay up tall eight of those. Eventually, you needed to sleep, sooner or later. I don't blame you for that. Tell me honestly Steven, how much sleep did you get in those eight days?"

"Do you want an exact number?"

"No, but I can assume you were struggling to keep your eyes open. As Pearl always says, we organic life forms need our sleep."

Steven sighed. "Why are you always like this? You always know just what to say to me. I can't even bring myself to be mad at you. You're such a Mary Sue, you know that?"

I gasped. "I can see into your mind, of course I often know what to say to you! I'm insulted by your baseless accusations."

Steven scratched the back of his neck. "So, you wanted to talk about your drawing, right?"

"What's with the sudden change of subject? Are you sure you're okay with talking about that now?"

"I'd rather talk about that than feel sad. You're right, I'd rather you not act differently just for me."

I shrugged. "I mean, I don't have much to add. I just wonder what it's trying to tell me?"

"Maybe it's just the remnants of a dream?"

"Maybe." I thought about that. I doubted it was a dream, I'd stopped dreaming ever since all this started. You know, the last time I actually had a dream was…

I blinked. _How did I forget about that?_

"Forget about what?" Steven said.

I sighed. "How did you…? Right, goddang telepathy. So, the last time I had any sort of dream was the night before all this started. It was just like this, just an image. But instead, I saw an infinity sign."

"Did you just say the night _before_?

"Yep. I kind of forgot about it until now, I thought there were more interesting things to worry about. It was just an infinity sign, pretty soon we'd be seeing those by the truckload. But this picture, if the first time was any indication, I think it's going to be important. Hey, maybe later today _that_ image is going to appear on our _left_ hands."

Steven rolled his eyes. "So would it appear on your wrist, or your false hand?"

I shrugged. "Details, det- AAAH!" I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder. It wasn't nearly as bad as when I passed out, that was almost as bad as when my hand was cut off, but it was still a sharp pain. Steven winced and grasped his shoulder as well.

With a shaky voice, I said, "Are you okay?"

"You're worrying about me? I'm just sharing a bit of your pain. Yet another 'perk' of this link. I should be asking if you're okay!"

Wait… sharing my pain? I didn't remember us writing that down on the list, since when was that a thing? But I realized he was kind of right. When he stepped into the warp and it exploded, what, ten days ago, now? I shared the pain of that experience. But following that logic, that also meant…

"Then, you also felt it when I had my hand cut off, didn't you…?"

Steven looked away. "It's in the past." I was in so much pain back then, the only reason I stayed upright was because I was basically a statue at the time. How had I not realized he would in such pain as well?

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because whatever I feel, I know you feel it twice as bad."

"But you still-"

"Stop. Just, stop. You can't make me feel guilty or anything. You were the one in pain, I just felt some of it too. What would I have to gain by saying anything? You were the one who ended up without a hand, after all."

"Still, why did you never bring it up before? I could've done something, we could've tried to fix it!"

"You know there's no way to fix it. Look, you were always the one getting hurt. You're a human, remember? My gem gives me strength and stamina you don't have. So, you get injured way more easily than me. What did you want me to say, 'I'm sorry your hand was cut off, but I felt some of the pain, too, so it's okay?' I'd look like a jackass, trying to get sympathy I didn't deserve. Connie, I'm fine. It's not like I could stop it if I wanted to. Stop trying to apologise for something that's not your fault."

"If I'm so fragile, what if I… what if I die? Would you die, too?"

"Could we not talk about this?"

I steeled my resolve. Because up until this point, if I had a choice, I would always be okay with getting hurt if it meant he was okay. But if me getting hurt just hurt him as well, maybe I should've cared about my own life as well.

I felt another spike of pain from my shoulder again. Steven and I both grabbed at our shoulders as the pain faded.

"Okay, this is bugging me," I said. "Where the heck is this pain coming from?"

"I checked while you were unconscious, I was feeling a bit of pain there, too. But I didn't see anything," Steven said.

Still, I pulled my shirt to the side to take a look at it myself. And right there, there was something very different from nothing.

I think my scream would've been heard by the gems whether they were in beach city or on the sky sanctuary.

* * *

The three gems took about 30 seconds to get from wherever they were to the beach house. It took me about that long to stop screaming.

Garnet arrived first, followed closely by Pearl, then Amethyst. "Connie!" Garnet said. "You're okay!"

"'Okay' is a relative term," I said. I showed pulled my shirt to the side and showed them the thing that I was screaming about: a tiny purple gemstone imbedded into my shoulder, as if it was always there. Somehow, someway, I think I had turned into a half-gem.

"I swear it wasn't there yesterday," Steven said.

The gems just froze.

"So," I said, "If I might be allowed to ask, in all of your days of traveling this marvelous planet, have you ever met a _human_ , with _human_ parents, that suddenly turned into a half-gem?"

Pearl tried to look for another explanation. "Now, now, let's not be hasty. It's just a small shard, we don't know if you're really a half-gem like Steven. This might just be some rare human disease."

I stared at her for a few seconds. "One that makes them grow gemstones out of their shoulder?"

"…Yes?"

"That's not biologically possible!"

"…Maybe that's your parents just never told you about it."

"What? No! Humans can't grow gems! It's simply not something human bodies can do! The basic elements aren't there! That's' to assume I even am a human, which thanks to this now I'm not even sure of! Can we stop being so argumentative and really talk about why I have a gemstone inside of my arm? Because unless you put this gem into me while I was asleep, maybe it should be a priority to figure out why the heck I seem to be a half gem!

"…so we're _sure_ it isn't a disease?"

"UUUUUGH!"

Ignoring Pearl, I touched the stone, for the first time. It wasn't just a random gemstone there or something, like a stray bullet. I could feel it. When I rubbed my hand against the stone, it seemed to have some sort of nerves in it. What the heck was wrong with my body?

I felt another wave of pain emanating from the crystal. By that time, I was used to it, but it still hurt. The gemstone glowed faintly, then faded again.

I pulled my shirt back over the stone. "Are you okay?" Amethyst said.

"Not really," I said. "The pain? Yeah, it's fine. But the gem itself, not a chance. First off, how am I going to tell my parents that I both lost a hand and gained a gemstone in my shoulder?"

"Well, they know about the hand," Steven said. "We couldn't exactly keep it from them that you were in a coma."

"Whoa, whoa," I said. If they knew I was in a coma, but only the gems knew "My parents still don't know that I'm awake?! Stop everything! Who cares about my gem, that should take top priority!"

"But-" Pearl said.

"No buts. You might not care about my parents, but they need to know."

Everybody was a bit hesitant, but they knew that I was right. Mom and Dad needed to know, first and foremost. I went out of the beach house to get better reception so I could call them.

As I walked out, I realized, this gemstone was pretty amazing. I hadn't moved in 8 days, yet I didn't feel any muscle loss at all. I think I felt some muscle gain. I guess these gem things really were the real deal, huh? I wondered how much I could do with it?

I dialed the number for mom. She picked up on the first ring, sounding a bit panicked. "Pearl? Is Connie better yet? Please tell me you have good news."

I smiled. I guess Pearl had been using my phone to call her. Come on, I couldn't resist. I put on my best Pearl voice and said, "I'm sorry, but Connie is lost. She is beyond critical condition, she will never wake up, she will never walk again. Which, on that note, is fairly average for patients who have been diagnosed with 'never waking up.'"

There was silence on the other end of the phone. "…Connie?"

"In the flesh." Although, with this gem, maybe that wasn't too accurate.

I heard her shout from off-mic. "Doug, come over, quick! Connie's on the phone!" She turned her attention back to me. "Do you have any idea how worried we were? I'm so glad you're okay, but do you have any idea how worried we were? You can't keep putting yourself in danger like this! The gems barely convinced us to let you stay there as is. Now, they put you in a coma for eight days?"

"Mom, I'm fine. And for the record, I'm positive that this isn't because of something the gems did."

"Well, not on purpose. But they didn't have your hand chopped off on purpose, did they?"

And there she went. I should've known they wouldn't take this well…

"Mom, you knew the danger when you let me come here, and I'm sure we'll get my hand back sooner or later. Look, maybe this is a conversation we should have in person, mom."

"What? No, this is important! You were out for eight days. What if you didn't wake up?"

"Mom, this really isn't a conversation we should be having over the phone."

"I heard that tone. Don't you dare hang up on me, Constance!"

"Mom, I get that you're stressed that I just woke up, and your emotions are getting in the way…"

" _My_ emotions? I wasn't sure if you would ever wake up! You expect me to be calm? I'll be calm once you start a job that doesn't risk your life and limb every single day. And don't say you would be careful, it's been just 2 months and you've already lost a hand, you're lucky we didn't pull you out then and there…"

Her rant continued. I closed my eyes and rubbed my face. This was going to be a while…

But as I closed my eyes, I saw the same image I saw when I woke up flash in front of my eyes again, the hand and the arrow. My eyes flew open. If it happened now, that meant the first time wasn't a fluke. This had to be important.

Then, I remembered where I was. Mom was _still_ ranting. Maybe if I was a better daughter, I should've been listening…

I tuned in again. "…and on that matter, you have fought three giant beasts in three days, and not come out unscathed, mind you…"

…no, I didn't care right now. I could worry about her wrath later. She knew I was okay, that was what was important. My attention was driven back to what was really important, now that Mom knew I was okay: I wanted to know why I had a gemstone in my shoulder. And I think I had a small lead.

I interrupted mom's rant. "Look, Mom, I'm sorry, but you really need to cool down and think rationally. Could you come over to the temple so we could have a heart-to-heart in person? The gems are trying to figure out why this happened in the first place, and I need to get back so they can figure this out."

"What? Don't you dare-"

"See you!"

I stopped the call and shut my phone all the way off, so she couldn't call back.

"I assume it didn't go well?" Steven said.

"Gee, how'd you guess?"

"Well, I could literally see into your emotions, so I knew you were unhappy. I could hear the words being said, that helped. Your mom ranted loud enough that I heard it. I saw your face. I heard your side of the conversation. I heard the tone of your words-"

"It was a rhetorical question!"

"I know. I'm just making up for eight days of not bugging you."

I didn't answer that, I had more important things to think about. I just pulled him back into the temple. I marched over to my drawing and picked it up.

"How'd it go?" Pearl said.

"Abysmally. When they get here, they'll be furious. But I don't care about that, what I want to know is, do any of you know anything about this image?"

"What… is it?" Amethyst said, studying my drawing.

"I don't know, but I'm pretty sure it's related to this," I said, pointing to my gem. "When I woke up, that image was stuck in my head. I don't know how it got there." I closed my eyes, and I could still see that picture, ever so faint. "And it still is."

"It looks like… a hand?" Pearl said. "Your hand, perhaps? No, it's a left hand, yours is mechanical, currently."

I looked closer at the image. I was glad Pearl was here, I hadn't caught that. She was right, it couldn't be my hand. And yet, it sounded so familiar…

I closed my eyes to look at it again, and my eyes seemed to zoom in on the picture. Literally. It was like I did a zoom function on an image in a photo editing software. In my mind's eye, I saw the image as I had seen it before. But I saw it with much deeper clarity. I saw the individual lines on the skin, the length of the fingers.

I flipped the paper over, and, with my eyes still closed, I drew what I saw. I did so quickly, not even thinking about what I was doing. I drew the hand with more detail, now. The light was the same, just smoother, looking less hand-drawn, even if it still was. Or at least, that's what I tried to do. The whole time, my eyes were closed, so I had no idea if what I was imagining was really happening. Still, I was pretty sure I knew.

When I opened my eyes, I saw the same image I had seen in my mind's eye. It was perfect.

"Connie, where did you get that skill in drawing?" Steven said. "I've seen your memories, and as far as I know, you still suck."

I was about to retort, but I looked over at Garnet. She was a bit shocked, and all she did was point at my gem. It was glowing, ever so lightly. Is that what let me draw better? I concentrated on the gemstone, and y vision zoomed in, like a magnifying glass was put up to the gem. It glowed again, presumably fueling the vision.

My gem exploded into pain and my vision shot back to normal, leaving me with a nasty headache. And a nasty gemache as well.

I shook my head. "This… explains a lot," I said.

"What?" Pearl said.

"Remember, during the battle, as I described it? I know you were a bit destracted by revenge, but I'm sure you remember the rest. Several times, I lived through futures that that didn't happen. Other times, I had time slow to a crawl, while Steven saw nothing. That's not how the Infinity Link works. For one, it doesn't affect only one of us. For another, it seems to have rules. If the link saw a future where we would've died, time would've slowed to a stop for _both of us_ 30 seconds before our deaths. But something entirely new happened, only I saw the future and it didn't slow down at all. So, what if I still somehow had my gemstone then? Or at least, it's powers, in some capacity? That would explain why I could do all that!"

I think I broke the Gems' minds. They all stared at me blankly.

"…Come on, guys. Work with me, here, before my parents arrive and we have to deal with _them_."

"So that rules out it being a human disease, then?" Pearl said.

I pursed my lips. "I really hope that was a joke," I said.

"It was," Pearl said. "But you're right. You seem to be some sort of half-gem, like Steven, although I still don't know how that's possible without a gem parent. And there's nothing that happened that would put a gem there, either. What gem are you half of, anyways? A purple gem with the power to manipulate time? I've never heard of anything like it!"

"I could look it up. You know, a list of purple gemstones or something. It could trigger your memory."

"No, no. I don't trust human inventions. I know, I'm going to the great gem library. Maybe they have something there." Before I could tell her that it didn't really matter what gem I had, Pearl ran over to the warp and warped away.

I sighed. "Either of you two staying to help figure this out?"

They both nodded.

"I don't suppose you think you're going to just sit it out until it solves itself, Amethyst?"

"I resent that!" she said. "That's exclusively having to do with the link, this is a totally new ballpark."

"Good. So, I think step one would be to figure out what this means," I said, pointing to the drawing. "Pearl's up against a dead end, It wouldn't do us any good knowing what gemstone's in me. So what if we knew what gemstone I have, we'd be no closer to knowing what's going on. This drawing is the biggest lead we have, it appeared in my mind at the same time as the gem did in my arm. Again, it's not striking any clues to either of you?"

"No." they said together. No quips from Amethyst? Wow, this really had broken them, hadn't it? From sad I might be gone, right into a brand new earth-shattering development. Can't we ever catch a break?

"Well, with this new drawing, which I got from using my powers, I saw the hand in my vision with better clarity." I brought up a picture from my iPhone showing the back of my hand. "That's what my hand looked like. Look at them, they're identical, the creases, the tiny hairs, they're all in the same place. The markings and imperfections are perfectly matched. Of course, this leaves us with a question, as all of these developments seem to do: if they're the same, why would I have my hand in this vision if I didn't have it outside of it?"

"It might be a vision of the future," Garnet said.

"Maybe. But that would mean I would have to get it back, sometime in the future which we're not sure of. Who's to say the shadowy figure didn't destroy it? And if I do, why would it look the same as this? I'm sure the imperfections would've changed by that point. By temple time, it's been a few years by now. But let's put that aside, let's pretend it made sense that it stayed the same after all this time. If it was a vision of the future, what's it trying to tell me? Shouldn't visions be less vague?"

"Maybe you're right," Steven said. "Then what if it's a vision of the past? Like, it's trying to remind you of a memory you had, then forgot."

I considered that. "You might be onto something…" I said.

Mom burst through the door to the beach house, completely ruining the moment. It came completely out of nowhere. I had forgotten about the fact that they would be coming, how long had it been since I called? Whatever, couldn't it have taken them just a little longer to reach us? Now, my bad decisions would come back to bite me. I winced, bracing for their anger.

Mom was silent. She walked up to me, and put her arms around me, pulling me into a hug.

Of all the things she could've done, I wasn't expecting that.

She said, "I am so sorry. You just woke up from a coma and right after I find out that you're okay, the first thing I did to you was rant at you about everything you and the people you love? What kind of a mother am I?"

I was just relived. "Mom, it's okay," I said.

"No, it's not! I… I…" she started crying. I had never seen her cry before. "How could I have done that to you? I'm sure that you went out of your way to call me, to make sure that I was okay. You tried to be nice, joking around, and I just acted like a complete jackass. You were right to hang up on me."

For the record, I didn't think she was that bad. "Mom, you were stressed. It's fine, really. You had a point, all I was saying was that we shouldn't have had the conversation over the phone, not that we should've stopped it altogether."

"Still, is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"

"No, mom, I already told you, it's-" I thought of something. "Actually, there is one thing. Do you recognize this picture?" I showed her my drawing.

She studied it for a few seconds. Finally, she shook her head. "I'm sorry, I don't. Should I?"

"I'm just making sure, I was never in a situation where this might have happened to me, in the past 6 months or so?"

"What? No, of course not. I would've known that. But-"

"Another quick favor? Could you be quiet for one minute?"

She shut up.

I thought about what she had said. I had seen another one of my pictures I took 6 months ago, and although my hand looked similar, it was different enough I could distinguish it from the drawing. So, if it wasn't from the last 6 months, it was from nothing at all. And I knew I would remember it if I _had_ seen it in the last 6 months.

"Hey, Mrs. Connie's mom?" Amethyst said. "You don't happen to have a gemstone imbedded into you somewhere, do you? Or maybe your husband?"

"…What?" she said.

"Just a weird question. It shouldn't too hard to answer."

"No, of course not. Why would you ask such a ridiculous question? We're not the gems here, you are!"

"Just checking."

I chuckled at the exchange. However, it did remind me that we would have to tell her about my gem sooner or late. Oh boy.

Come on, back on topic. You know, for some reason, my mind refused to let that image go. Why couldn't I let it go, it wasn't like it was as important as my mind was making it seem. It was like something or someone had physically driven it into my brain, to ensure I would never forget it.

Never mind that, wait. I just realized, I had pretty much ruled out the past and present from being when that image occurred. So how was I seeing my hand in the image if it couldn't have been my hand? An image that was ingrained into my mind by no one, an image that could never happen? It was impossible! And yet, I felt that I was so close…

My face was pure concentration. "What's wrong with her?" Mom muttered.

"Quiet!" Garnet said. "Let her think."

I felt so close. _Why_ did I feel so close? I knew almost nothing, but something deep within me told me I was making accurate deductions.

Okay, rethink on what I knew. If the image wasn't a vision of the past or future, then, when was it? It couldn't be the present, of course. Then, why did it feel so _right_ that it was taken after my hand was cut off, but before right now? Why did it feel it had to take place in the present?

And the other point? Why did I feel such a burning sensation to figure out this image? Why did I care about it, even more than I cared about even my own parents? That's not just me not caring about Mom, I really feel that I have to remember this. Like someone drilled it into my brain, hypnotized me into thinking it was important. But you can't hypnotise an unconscious person, the only people in my brain were me, myself, and I. So who could've drilled it into my head? The only one that can get me to be so invested in something, the only person that was in my brain, is… is myself…?

What if _I_ had drilled it into my head? It sort of made sense, it fit the criteria. But why didn't I remember it? Wouldn't I remember drilling the image into my brain? I concentrated, hard. What if my memories were altered?

I concentrated, harder and harder, trying to find something hidden in my brain, and I saw a flash of an image, and not the arrow and the hand. I saw the shield that I had summoned in Pearl's room during the battle. What did it mean? I didn't know. Or at least, I didn't know what the shield itself meant. But it also meant I had more memories that were hidden. I thought harder. What was I forgetting? Who stole my memories? I would see what I was missing. I didn't care about elegance. I needed to see this, or my name wasn't Connie Maheswaran!

I felt a hand on my shoulder. Oh, yeah, I wasn't alone. Whatever I couldn't do, he couls fill in the blanks. With him at my side, we worked to breach the barrier that held my memories in.

And suddenly, I broke through, and a wave of images came over me. My palm set on fire, and without warning the infinity link took me on a journey through whatever was erased from my memory…

* * *

Darkness.

I saw nothing but darkness.

After the assault on my shoulder, the pain melted away, but even though my body remained unconscious, my brain stayed wide awake. With this freedom, all it could see was darkness.

I looked down at my body. I had an ethereal form, my whole body lightly glowed blue. My left hand was back, which clued ne in that this was a dream. My palm lightly glowed purple.

After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, the infinity hourglass slowly faded into view in front of me. I reached out to touch it, but it was just out of reach.

The Hourglass started spinning. It started out slow, but with each rotation it gained more and more speed until you couldn't tell it was an hourglass and it just looked like a circle. Suddenly, a vision flashed before me. I saw a short, blue gem and a tall, white one in front of two gems that were about 30 feet tall. The vision cut away to another one and I saw a view of a spaceship in the middle of leaving a planet, going close to the speed of sound, then stopping in its tracks in the middle of space. It cut away again, I saw two short gems dancing with each other, one red and one blue. Next, I saw a Lapis Lazuli and a short green gem running through a dark alleyway. I saw two gems fusing together in a dark cavern with holes all around it. The images came and went faster and faster, and I stopped seeing them as individual memories and started seeing them more as one continuous story being told. Two silhouettes against a setting sun. A pair of gems behind bars. A giant hammer heading straight at a poofed gem. Then, at once the visions stopped and I was back in the void again, just me and the hourglass. In front of me, the spinning infinity hourglass formed a purple shield of light, the same one that had appeared before me in Pearl's room while fighting the Lapis clone.

I reached out my ethereal hand to the shield. Something deep inside me called me to it. It was indescribable, but every fiber of my being needed to touch it. I reached out my hand, but no matter how hard I stretched I fell an inch short.

Suddenly, I was no longer pushed forwards by some sort of primal urge. I was in perfect control of my actions, and with that control I wasn't going to give up now. Because if this was a challenge proposed by my inner psyche, then I would not fail. I strained my arm to go even further, to find my limits and break them. I would not be limited by little things like physics. I stopped believing in physics when we turned into Stevonnie and said F you to gravity. The inch turned into being just a centimeter short. Then just a millimeter. My arm was practically ripping itself out of its socket. Any sane person would've stopped. But if this was a test or something, I would not fail.

As I reached out, my middle finger finally grazed the shield. and the whole thing exploded into strands of light. Several thin, white beams solidified. They fluttered aimlessly for a few seconds, then they all converged in one point around 10 feet away. The strings of light stared spinning incredibly quickly, then before I knew what was happening they charged straight at me, like an arrow. I held out my hand to stop it, and the image of my hand to stop the arrow was engrained into my head, because I wasn't used to having a left hand at all. But the arrow went right through my hand. The attack hit me squarely on my right shoulder, where the pain had erupted right before I passed out. I winced, expecting the pain to return, but I simply felt a dull thud. A gemstone appeared, sticking out of my shoulder, the same size as Steven's. That single source of light I had been relying on vanished, and there was nothing but blackness. Before I had any time to think about what had just happened, though, I felt my memories of what had just happen begin to fade away.

And as those other memories faded away, more came rushing back, prepared to fade as well. This wasn't the first time I had this memory. I had seen that slideshow of images dozens of times. Every other time, they hit my hand and stopped, forming the infinity sign, but this time, they went through it and hit my shoulder. What could it mean? I didn't know, but it wouldn't matter if I forgot everything again!

I needed to remember this. My real self had to know that this was happening to me, night after night. I had to find something to hold onto. An image, a word, a sound. Anything. It was so hard to concentrate with everything slipping away. The first thing I wanted to remember was the infinity hourglass, but I remembered that every other time, and if the waking me noticed it at all, she just shrugged it off. I needed something else. The shield? No, she might not think much of it, knowing me, I'd set it aside as being infinity link nonsense. Most of my memories were already too faint to remember. All that came to mind was my blue hand reaching out, trying to stop the "arrow" of purple light. So, with nothing else to think of, I burned that image into my skull. I focused on that image, my hand and the arrow were all that mattered. The rest of my memories could go, I just needed one.

Everything else faded, but I kept concentrating. I forgot why I had to remember it in the first place, I just knew I needed to remember that image. A blue hand and a purple arrow. A blue hand and a purple arrow. A hand and a purple arrow. A hand and an arrow. A hand and an arrow. My consciousness began to slip. But although the image faded, it never faded all the way. That image was ingrained into my mind as I hoped that maybe this time the message would reach the me beyond these dreams…

* * *

 _A/N: What? I didn't end on a cliffhanger? I guess all that editing on chapter one got to me or something…_

 _EDIT: The original ending wasn't a cliffhanger, but the chapter got drastically reworked. So nope, no getting rid of cliffhangers for you._

 _By the way, I'm sorry if this chapter was sub-par. I really tried, but I had a lot of trouble writing the opening to the chapter, and the rest seems too slow… maybe it isn't as bad as I think it is? I just think it isn't great for something I spent an extra two days working on (even if I have way less time on weekends)_

 _Before you ask, yes, I did plan on this twist, with Connie becoming a half-gem, for a while. I stopped doing things 'just because they sounded cool' quite a while ago. I tried to hint at it when Connie started doing things that were unrelated to the link, like when she saw the future yet the mark didn't light up at all, and time shifting to a near-stop in Connie's perception multiple times. Oh, also when Pearl was wondering why Connie was such a good dual-wielding sword fighter with no experience, the answer was because of her increased perception due to the gem. I mean, she can slow down time in her head, it makes sense that even if she's an amateur, she can still hold a candle to Pearl's skill. Well, that's one more loose end down. I need to make a list of plotpoints I still need to clear up so I don't forget any by the time the story ends…_

 _As for the why she's a half-gem, well… I'm not a fan of the theory that Connie's mom is half-gem. Unless it gets explicitly stated in the show that the theory's true, I don't think it's a very good theory, there's just not enough evidence. However, I have other reasons why she might have a gem now. But… don't bother theorizing now. I mean, do as you will, it's your choice, but I don't think I foreshadowed it enough yet. It would be like trying to figure out why the link formed in the first place, it's less of something you could figure out on your own right away and more something where more and more puzzle pieces will come into play later on. Feel free to review your thoughts on how you like it, though!_

 _Responding to guest reviews! Bmidd111, I sent you a PM, you should've gotten that. So for once, I have no need to respond here! ^_^ And if you didn't get it, check your PM box. I always get an email about it, but you might not check that regularly._

 _But… we have a new guest reviewer it is my duty to respond to. Lola, you commented "It's over, isn't it?" on this story. So I felt it fitting to respond to your four word review in the only way I could:_

* * *

 _It's over, isn't it?_

 _Isn't it?_

 _No, it's not over…_

 _It's over, isn't it?_

 _Seriously?_

 _No, it's not over._

 _Come on,_

 _The last chapter_

 _Was just five days ago_

 _It's over, isn't it?_

 _Cut me some slack, bro…_

* * *

 _(I jest, of course. But the parody was too much of an opportunity to pass up. I don't really know if that's what you were complaining about (If you were complaining at all), maybe you were just making a reference. *shrugs* Hope you read this and enjoy, Lola! Next time, post a non-guest review so I can respond right away._ _)_

 _Finally, hey, Lemur? Is the fanart coming along okay? I'm just kind of curious when it might be done. If it'll be another month, or you don't know, because you're busy, that's fine, I just kind of want a timeframe. Because now that I've decided to keep the two of these stories separate, I still need the cover art for CoaT! So you know, good old wishy washy me, now we need to talk about that again. :P_

 _Coming up next time, Lion 2. And oh boy, I have plans for lion 2._

 _Oh, don't worry, I can tell you with absolute certainty I won't spend another 12 chapters within a few days of that. I mean, 13 isn't 12, technically._

 _All joking aside, I'll try to get that done ASAP. This took a long time to make, five days for a chapter I don't even really like. Tell me if it isn't as sub-par as I think, but also tell me if it is. If I don't know if my chapters are good or not, how am I going to improve? I'm going to work hard to get the next one out sooner and better. See you then._

 _PS: Most of the regulars didn't post reviews last time. I said, I run on fan appreciation, if I don't get it, I peter out. It's sad, but true. So be sure to tell my your honest thoughts. If you loved it, great! Tell me. If you thought it was awful, tell me. If you thought it was okay, tell me! I want to know there are still people out there reading this, okay? So if you took some time writing a review, even if you've done so before, it would really brighten my day._


	20. Timelinewise, We're Lion 2ish

Timeline-wise, We're Lion 2ish

 _A/N: Thought you had gotten rid of me, had you? More details on why I was gone in the end author's note. For now, here's the story!_

* * *

The hourglass spun in front of my eyes and reattached to my palm.

I thought over that vision. I had tried so hard to remember it… and for what?

I had no idea what was going on. I just got my memory back, but it didn't help. Like, at all. And it didn't answer why I had a gem in my shoulder! All I got was a bunch of vague images and symbolism, which don't help my current predicament.

"ARE YOU OKAY?" Mom said. Or, should I say, she screamed at the top of her voice. I jolted backwards due to the overwhelming noise and covered my ears. "IS SOMETHING WRONG?" she screamed again.

"Yes, I'm fine!" I said. "Could you possibly calm down for a second? It was just a vision of the past, I get those sometimes. I didn't think that'd happen right then. Anyways, I'll explain it later. By the way, how long were we out for?"

"ABOUT 5 SECONDS," Amethyst yelled at the top of her lungs, just as loud as Mom had. Something seemed wrong. I could see mom being that panicked, but Amethyst? I mean, sure, she could be a bit loud, but not like this. "WHAT'D YOU SEE?"

I covered my ears again. " **I'll tell you, fine, but could we please stop screaming**?" I yelled. " **What's wrong with you guys**?"

I got a few blank looks coming from around the room. "UM, BUDDY? YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE SCREAMING," Amethyst yelled once again, but her face showed she clearly didn't see anything being wrong. I went from being angry to just being confused.

"You okay, Connie?" Steven said. His voice was normal, which didn't do anything to simplify things.

I covered my head. "Everybody, quiet. I'm trying to think."

What the heck was going on? See a dream I once had and now everybody's screaming at me? Was I still dreaming or something?

"What's going on with Connie now? Is she usually like this after a vision?" Mom said to Garnet. Her actions showed she was trying to whisper, but I heard a voice louder than a normal one.

"Shhh…" Garnet said. At least _she_ was on my side, huh?

Now that the gems had quieted down, I could hear a lot of things. I could hear the ocean waves, as if I was standing a foot away. I could hear the restaurants of beach city, still trapped in their eternal feud. I could hear Mom's car, still idling by the beach. I guess she was too busy to park it on the way in. It was like I could hear everything. What the heck was going on now? I had a psychedelic dream and now I had superpowers? Like, more of them than usual?

Okay, I needed to focus. Freaking out didn't solve any problems. I started pacing across the room and a chill ran down my spine. My dress, something was wrong with it. I had so much feeling in it. With a small move like that, I felt it rub against my back like it was… well, I don't know what it was! I'd never felt something like it before! Normally I wouldn't notice it as I walked, but I felt every fabric individually on my back.

I took a whiff through my nose, and I could smell some fries cooking on the fryer, all the way down on the boardwalk. I saw the scenery's detail with amazing clarity. I could only assume my taste was in a similar situation, since I didn't have anything to test it with. All of my senses were hypercharged.

What was happening to me?

"CONNIE, TELL ME WHAT'S WRONG. I CAN HELP," Mom said. I winced at the immense noise.

"I… I need some fresh air," I said. I dragged Steven out the door before he could object.

I burst outside, hoping to breath in the fresh air and clear my head. And it was even worse. The sun was blindingly bright. The many voices emanating from beach city, previously muffled by the hut, were like a bunch of people yelling into my ear. Steven tried to call out to me, but his normal-volume voice was lost to the masses.

I started physically spinning in circles, seeing and hearing every little thing. It was dizzying. I saw crickets sitting in the grass half a mile away. I smelled an intricate mix of flowers, the sea, and all the man-made pollution in the air. I could barely hear, I only saw in tiny glimpses, the light winds were like a hurricane. I kept spinning and twirling across the boardwalk, faster and faster.

One voice cut through the torrent. " _Connie, watch out!"_ Steven called through telepathy.

I spun and spun and hit the railing to the dock. Everything stopped for a second, and I was caught off guard. I sailed right over it, down, down, down to the beach far below.

Steven dived forward to grab my hand before I fell. His hand connected with mine. He caught me.

But the moment his hands connected with mine, my senses were assaulted. I felt every little line, every pore in his skin, and it overwhelmed me. My hand flinched, and I let go. As I fell, our link pulled him over the rails right after me.

The intense hurricane-force winds I felt hitting me as I fell I thought would be the last feeling I would ever know.

But before I hit the ground, Lion leapt out from underneath the Temple, where he usually slept. He caught the two of us before we hit the ground.

I guess these hypersenses weren't all bad. I could feel the softness of lion's coat unlike I could hope to before this.

A wave crashed on the seashore, and it all came back. The noise, the feeling of each pellet of water hitting me. It reminded me why I hated this. The noise of the people of beach city came back to me, and I curled into a ball. I could feel Steven's confusion, but also his sympathy.

"Please," I whimpered to Lion. "Get us out of here."

Lion growled softly, and it sounded to me like a mighty roar.

He took off towards the ocean, beginning to run on water (a skill I didn't know he had, for the record) He roared, and a portal formed before him. We entered the portal and all the noise stopped.

I was frozen atop Lion as he soared through the portal. I meant for him to take me somewhere quiet, not to go to another dimension! The gems were probably looking for us!

Steven didn't care about that. He grabbed my hands in his. I flinched away, but he held tight. "What's going on, Connie?" Steven said. "This isn't like you! Why did you just jump off a dock?"

It was impossible to explain what was happening to me. I didn't really know.

"I have no idea…" I said.

Lion's portal let out into a dark cave. I couldn't hear a thing except an occasional drop of water. There was a gem structure in the middle of the room. As I looked around random details popped out at me. A crack in the wall. A panel with a hand on it. A section of the wall jutting out by maybe a millimeter.

Steven dusted himself off and looked my way. "Connie, something's happening to you, and I want to help. You're not the kind of person who curls into a ball when you're feeling scared. You're telling me what's going on _now, I_ won't accept 'I don't' know' as an answer. Is this because of something in the dream?"

I shook my head. I could pick out every hair of my bangs as I did so. Why couldn't I stop my eyes from doing this? "I really don't know what's happening! I can hear, like, everything. I can see everything. All my senses have been amplified and I can't turn it off!" Huh, I noticed a weird effect in here. Steven and my voice sounded normal to me, but the echoes of the cave were amplified. The echoes were louder than his actual voice. It wasn't overwhelming like it had been in beach city, just bizarre.

Steven seemed confused. "That's it?"

I looked over at him. An incredulity look crossed my face. "That's it. THAT'S IT? Okay, I'll try to explain this to you. You know when you're at a rock concert, and it's so loud you can't even think? Well, it was so loud I couldn't think, so bright I couldn't think, so EVERYTHING I couldn't think. Here, at least, most of the 'can't thinks' is under control. Imagine that for a second. Now, can you blame me for freaking out?"

Steven shrunk back. "I'm sorry. I didn't think about that. You're right, we need help. We need to get back to the gems."

"NOOOOO!" I yelled, instantly. I was terrified of going back. My call echoed through the cave, off into the distance. "I mean, maybe… we should wait a little?"

Steven looked at me for a while."Is it really that bad?"

I nodded slowly.

"Then let's do something about it!"

"…What?"

"Well, this is obviously something to do with your gem, right?"

"Probably."

"Well, your problem isn't like mine. I had trouble activating my powers when I got my gem. You're having trouble suppressing them, right?"

"Yes..."

"Then I can only see one way to fix it. We need help!"

"…You lost me."

"I can't help much, here. For all intents and purposes, we've been at this for just about the same amount of time. At least, when it comes to going on missions and stuff. When it comes to gem stuff, the only people that can help us are the gems. More specially, Garnet."

"I get that, Steven…"

"Then we need to get out of here, okay? I get it, you're scared. I didn't get why when I felt it, but I could feel your fear. I know how you feel about this. But we can't fix this on our own."

His explanation made sense. I couldn't find an objection to put in. "Maybe you're right. Maybe we _should_ get Garnet's help on this one. I never told her what was wrong, anyways. If I did, she could help us." Dispite what Steven said, I shivered at the thought of having to go outside again. Even in this isolated cave, the smell, the echoes were ear-grating.

Steven felt my emotions. "I'm sorry, Connie. Maybe we can have Lion teleport us directly to the temple so you don't have to go outside again." He turned to Lion. "Hey, Lion? Could you take us back to the temple, boy?"

Lion rolled over.

Steven waved his finger. "No, I didn't ask you to roll over. Can you _take_ us to the _temple?"_

Lion closed its eyes.

"I didn't say play dead!"

I smiled and giggled. "I think he's just taking a nap."

"But we need him to take us to the temple…" Steven pouted.

"Maybe he needs to rest in between jumps? I'm sure it'll be fine if we wait it out." I said.

"Look, didn't you say you wanted to get back to the temple? The sooner we leave this place, the better."

I was about to make my response, but my gem decided to send a wave of pain through my shoulder. Steven grasped his shoulder, as well.

A bit grumpier, I said, "Well, how do you think we should get out if not by Lion? He's clearly not helping right now. Do you have any _other_ ideas? I sure don't see a warp here. Do you feel like diving into a cave of unknown length and depth and location in hopes of maybe finding a way out, and _maybe_ finding a warp? We don't even know if this is the same dimention! The truth is, we don't have a choice _but_ to wait for him to be ready, okay?."

Steven gave me a look. "No need to be so pessimistic, Connie…"

I shrunk a little. "Sorry. I'm a bit cranky right now. My gem acted up, obviously, but I'm under a lot of stress, too. I just missed a week of my life, and as I was already getting overwhelmed, whatever's doing all of this to us throws _this_ our way."

Steven had nothing to say to that. I guess he wasn't used to this more pessimistic side of me.

He wandered over to the structure in the center of the cave, pulling me along with. "What's that thing, anyways?" I said.

Steven shrugged.

I turned to look him in the eye. "Steven, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you."

He returned my gaze. "I'm not mad at you, Connie," he said. I could see it in his eyes, he wasn't angry. "It's hard to stay mad at you, let alone get angry with at all. It's just, you got back after a whole week, we made up and everything, we cracked into your dream, and we still don't get a break. We're put in this cave and we can't get out until lion chooses to let us leave." He leaned against the pillar with the handprint on it. "Your senses decided to explode. I wish we could get a break, you know?"

I nodded in agreement. "I know. Hey, maybe we'll get lucky. Maybe, after this, we'll go 6 months without any danger at all."

"Come on, don't be ridiculous. I only want, like, 2 weeks. 6 months would get boring. Like, more of a steady stream rather than a torrent. A little chaos is fine, you know?"

"Look at it from my point of view, though. For me, it was just maybe 5 hours ago we fought the water Lapis clone! At least you had the week off."

Steven scratched his chin, and a mischievous smile crossed his face. "Well, there _was_ that giant robot I fought…"

"Steven…"

"Yeah, it was super hard! I had to work around being tethered to a ragdoll as I fought."

"Steven."

"Fine, fine. It was only a medium-sized robot."

"Steven!"

We laughed at that. Isn't it funny? We laugh more and more the more stress we're under.

There was a rumbling beneath us. Like, an earthquake or something! I was completely thrown off balance. I hit the ground, and my whole left side erupted in pain. It was way more than seemed appropriate for the situation. It faded quickly, but I was left in shock. _Right… better senses means more pain._

I got up. From the ground beneath the gem structure, a giant robot erupted upwards! Well, maybe it was only medium-sized. Regardless: a robot! It floated in midair for a few seconds. It kind of looked like a giant coffee cup. Steven and I eyed it, not sure if it was a threat or not. After a few seconds of eying it, Steven took a step towards it. Its eyes turned red and it fired a blast of energy at us.

"Left!" Steven yelled. We both dodged the bolt. It impacted against the panel with the hand on it.

"I believe you about the robot now!" I said.

"I was joking!"

We got up from the floor, and it prepared another bolt. My eyes seemed to zoom in. I saw every bolt on its body, every weak point it might've had. The eyes lead straight into the core, a good shot would take it down. Blunt force would do little to stop it. Its attacks vaporized organic targets, and gem ones equally. Nothing was safe.

With all the information coming in all at once, I completely froze, right as it fired. The next shot headed straight at me, and I didn't dodge out of the way. Steven tried to summon his shield to block it, but in the heat of the moment, he failed. The bolt hit me. It entered in one side… and went right out the other. It hit the cave wall behind me. The whole thing rumbled, some dust falling from the ceiling. Something told me the cave couldn't take much more of this.

Steven stared at me. "What just happened?" he said.

"I don't know," I said.

Steven shook it off. "We can't count on it happening again. You need to focus."

"Yeah, I know. No sudden moves, right?"

"…What?"

I flicked my wrist and one of my swords appeared in my metal arm. The robot fired another shot, but I knew it was coming. I deflected it with my sword. "It's attack pattern. It fires whenever you make any sudden moves. Otherwise, it waits."

"Great spot!"

"Thank the stupid super-senses. If they don't completely incapacitate me, they're decent in battle." I glanced at him. "Got a weapon?" I said.

"Not really."

"Then have this one." I threw him over the sword I was using, using minimal motion on my part. The robot fired a shot at the sword, but it missed. He caught it. "You won't get incapacitated by your senses." I was being practical, he had better odds here.

Steven nodded his head. The movement made the robot fire another shot, but Steven deflected it. This was almost too easy. And that made me a bit suspicious. Who defends their base with such an easily killable robot?

Steven made a sudden move, and the robot fired. He deflected it, and as the robot reloaded, the two of us charged it. Steven used an overhead strike with his sword, and I just punched it with my metal arm. It spiraled into one of the cave's walls and impacted hard. It crashed to the ground. It lay there, and the light faded from its eyes. Guess I was wrong for being suspicious, huh?

"Yeesh. That was easy." I said.

"I guess we're just used to fighting much bigger threats by now."

Steven looked at the pad that presumably summoned the robot in the first place. "By the way, let's not touch that hand thing again."

"Agreed."

I looked to the other end of the cave. "Are you ready to take us back yet, Lion?" I yelled.

I looked over and… Lion was nowhere to be seen. "Hey…where'd lion go?"

Steven looked around. He wasn't anywhere to be seen. "He can't have gone far, right? LION!"

I was about to call for him as well, but the echoes of Steven's call made me cover my ears. Stupid senses. Still, I listened close to Lion's call. If I could hear all that noise from beach city, imagine what I could hear with all these echoes! Lion, though, didn't respond, not even through my incredible hearing.

I looked around. Where could Lion have been? My eyes literally zoomed in on Lion's footprints. They lead deeper into the cave. So he went deeper into the cave and then presumably took a nap so he couldn't respond!? "Sometimes I wish we never brought that Lion home…" I muttered.

"What? Did you find him?"

I pointed to his footprints, then to the cave. "Remember what I said about exploring a cave of unknown depth, length, et cetera?"

Steven stared at the footprints. "You know, I think this answers our question."

"…Huh?"

"No, we're never getting a break."

I tried to keep a straight face at that. That attempt lasted maybe 3 seconds. After that, I couldn't help but laugh out loud. Steven didn't even attempt to stop his own laughter. After that died down, I said, "Okay, let's find that thing and get out of here. We've only been here for maybe 10 minutes and I'm sick of it. I'm fine with getting back to the gems."

I took a step towards the opening in the cavern. Its sound echoed loudly through the cavern, and subsequently my head. Really, wasn't my brain going haywire enough? Couldn't Lion cooperate? "Even walking is hard…" I muttered.

Steven put his hand in mine. I felt the pores once again. His hand in mine, we continued into the cavern.

* * *

We reached a fork in the road. One lead to a lighter area, presumably the surface, and one lead deeper into the cave. Lion's footprints lead deeper into the cave. I wondered… was he just going for a nap, or leading us somewhere?

Steven's hand unignorably in mine, we continued, deeper and deeper into the cave.

* * *

In a room sat a giant gem disc with a pedestal and a handprint on it. A Lion's footprints, and two half-gems' footprints lead away. To one side of the room lay a robot shaped like a tin-can.

The robot lay on the floor. It would do so until its 5-minute timer ran out. When it did, it was programmed to reset its functions and enter training mode once again. It had heard the words, "Hard" last, so it would enter the 'hard' difficulty setting. In that setting, it would have no trouble following a simple set of footprints. There were two minutes left on its clock. Then, the hunt would begin once again.

In a quiet room, in a quiet robot, a countdown ticked down…

* * *

 _A/N: So… I should probably give a reason for the huge gap in my uploads.I should say, I'm sorry. I don't have excuses. I just have explinations. I promise, it won't happen again, not without warning. After the last chapter, I was having serious writer's block for a few weeks. And just when I was finally getting a bit of drive back, just when I started writing the next chapter, I got about 4K words in, then my computer crashed, and it was all lost! The whole thing._

 _I decided to just move onto my pokemon fic, which you can check out by clicking my profile. And when I wanted to work on this one, I wouldn't let it be sub-par, I was a perfectionist about it. Why would you want to wait this long and get a mediocre result? So that kept stalling it, too. Overall, it was a nightmare on my end._

 _Long story short, let me just say, I'm sorry, and it won't happen again. If there's ever another situation like this, there won't be radio silence. I'll keep everyone updated._

 _I should thank the TRIGGERED lemur for getting me motivated to write this again. Even with my radio silence, he kept drawing with no financial gain on his part at all. He's made two pieces of fanart, including the new and improved cover art for the story, Link here:_

 _wolfkeeneye. deviantart art/Bonded-by-Fate-fanart-711881253_

 _(Get rid of the spaces, obviously. From there, click on their profile to see the other one picture)_

 _So thanks, Lemur. I hope this was worth the wait._

 _And thanks to those who've joined in the meantime, and those asking where I've been. Well, I'm finally back._

 _Again, I'm sorry. Chapters should be weeklyish from now on. At worst, 2 weeks, NEVER any longer without prior notice. I'm splitting my efforts between 2 fics, this and my pokemon one, so that's the reason for slightly slower upload schedule moving forwards. Anyways, Welcome back, self. Let's see if we can get 100 followers eventually._

 _I'm not going to beg for reviews this time, I don't really deserve them. If you think this chapter deserves it, post one. But if not, please, don't._

 _Next time, the next part of the arc. I have a pretty cool idea down the road… and it might have something to do with why the robot's attack went right through Connie…_


	21. Diving Deeper

Diving Deeper

We followed Lion's footprints into the cave. As we walked deeper into the cave, the walls morphed from stone to mottled clay. "What do you think we're going to find in the middle of the cave, anyways?" I said.

"What do you mean?"

"Lion isn't one to run away like this with no warning, right? He seems to care about us, anyways. So why would he run with no warning? I thought, he had to be leading us to something."

"You're right, this isn't like him… I guess he could be leading us somewhere, but… what if it's the shadowy figure from the temple?"

I chuckled. "Come on. How would they possibly get here?"

"Um… if they couldn't get here, how could they have gotten into the temple, then…?"

I froze in place. "I didn't think about that."

I felt a tug on my link. I guess I didn't warn Steven I was stopping, and the link made me stumble forwards. Normally I could catch myself from a little stumble like that, but I couldn't figure out my sense of balance was with my new senses. I just fell over. I winced as my arm erupted into pain. Good thing I was used to pain, these days. Man, the tradeoff was harsh, here. So much suffering, but superpowers. Like a 'would you press the button if,' but I had to press the button, and I hated the button.

Steven gave me a hand to help me up, and I took it. "Hate these senses…" I muttered. I spoke up. "I was _trying_ to say, we should be careful. I don't _think_ it was the shadowy figure. Judging by these footprints, he's walking from his own volition."

Steven looked at the dusty footprints on the floor. "What do you mean? They're just footprints. Does this have to do with your super-senses or whatever?"

I thought about that. I didn't… think so? I mean, I was getting a much better look at them, my eyes zooming in, and they were a lot brighter than they should be in a dark cave like this, but I honestly recognized Lion's footprints to be what they were like when he was walking. Unless this gem was giving me better memory?

"Connie?"

"Oh, right," I said. I guess I got lost in thought. "I'm not really sure. It's like, you see the pad marks there?" I pointed to a specific footprint. "If the was being brought here, he would have to be running in fear or being dragged by an assailant, right? Well, there would be skid marks if he was being dragged. And if he was running, the pad would connect to the fingers instead of being separate from them. Even if he was being lead somewhere by someone, like with he was a treat, it doesn't work. His pads would have to lift slightly, which I'm not seeing. If he's more curious or suspicious, tracking an assailant, he would be making lighter prints. But none of that is true. Right now, he's just walking. Not jogging, not bing dragged, walking. The only thing I can think of that fits the criteria is that he's going deeper all on his own."

Steven whistled, impressed. "Is that how your thought process normally works?"

I shrugged. "I guess so?"

"That's so cool."

I blushed, and tried to hide it. "Um, we'd better get going. Lion's probably running ahead of us."

I started briskly walking forwards. Even if I couldn't hide my emotions, I could hide my face. Steven was pulled behind me, and we plunged further forwards.

* * *

We walked for maybe 2 minutes down the cavern. Then Lion's footprints lead straight into a wall.

I felt it to see if it was a fake wall or something. Maybe I could tell more information with my normal hand, but the intense feelings going into my palm were unrecognizable to me. These super-senses were hindering me in almost every way, let alone the fact I was completely incapacitated in combat. They all seemed to have the opposite of the intended effect. Well, if only by looking at the wall, there didn't seem to be anything off about it. there wasn't anything off about the it.

"Did he summon a portal here or something?" Steven said.

"Maybe," I said. "But if that is true, he summoned it and casually walked in without breaking his pace The footprints show him walking, never breaking pace. Besides. why would he walk all the way here just to teleport away, when he could've done that in the cavern with the robot?"

The more I thought about it, the more it didn't make any sense. My eyes chose that moment to zoom into the wall. There was an imprint of Lion's footprint over a certain section. So, Lion walked up casually and placed his palm on that section? Why? Now that I thought about it, something was off about this wall. That wall was made of stone, but the rest were made of clay. This whole thing didn't make much sense. Unless… what if there was a sensor there that only let Lion past?

I put my hand in the same spot as Lion's print, but nothing happened. As I was about to pull away, though, I heard a small rumbling from beneath the rock. With renewed vigor, I pushed harder, but nothing happened.

Okay, I had an idea. "Can I have the sword again, Steven?"

Steven tossed me it. My combat reflexes kicked in and I _actually_ caught it. _Finally,_ something wasn't screwed over by my senses!

I leaned over to the clay by my side and started chipping away a piece of clay from the wall, the same shape as Lion's print. I started with the paw, then went to the fingers. After a minute, I screwed up, chipping off the wrong section.

"Dangit," I muttered.

"No rush, Connie."

I started working on the wall again. As I reached the fingers again, I heard a metallic sound echo from the distance of the hallway. It was quiet, but still there. "Did you hear that?" I said.

"Hear what?"

"…Nothing."

I kept chipping away. I thought I had heard it, but even if I had, it wasn't a huge deal, anyways. I kept chipping. I chipped the print fully out of the wall and compared it to the one on the floor. It was actually pretty good! I pressed it against the spot on the wall.

…No response. I pressed a little bit harder, and still, nothing.

I looked at the print. I had based it off the ones on the floor for convenience, but looking at the one on the wall, it was a little different. The rock in my hand was just that: a useless hunk of clay.

As I worked on try number three, making sure to use the right one this time, I heard another metallic sound off in the distance. This time, it was a bit louder.

"Did you hear that?" Steven said.

I looked at him. I was a little more concerned, now. "I'm not imagining it, then. It was… quieter last time."

A concerned look adorned his face. "Maybe you should work faster."

I doubled my pace. It took me about two minutes to finish. There wasn't a single sound during the whole time.

I pulled the footprint out. As I was placing it on the wall, I heard the metallic ring again, and it was a whole lot louder this time. Distracted, I dropped the footprint. Well… it fell to the floor. I didn't drop it, I swore it was still in my hands, but when I looked back to the door the piece was on the floor.

I shook my head. I swore, I was starting to go insane. I placed the print on the wall. Again, nothing. Okay, I was getting frustrated, now. Was this because I dented it or something? I slammed it in as hard as I could in frustration. This time, the door swung open, like it was on a hinge, straight upwards

"…Don't tell me I only had to use more force the whole time." I said.

Steven burst into laughter. I was about to interrupt him to say something like 'very funny,' but I didn't need to. He was interrupted when the sound echoed through the cave again, louder than ever before. Even with my super-hearing, I could tell it was close, and I didn't feel like knowing what was making it. The two of us rushed through the open door and it auramatically closed behind us.

"What if that was the figure?!" Steven said.

"We'd better find Lion, fast."

We speed walked forwards, continuing to follow Lion's footprints, in silence.

After about thirty seconds, a mighty CLANK! Erupted through the cavern. We froze. A few seconds later, it happened again.

We started jogging in tandem.

Behind us, the metallic clanks got quieter in the distance.

We jogged for maybe a few minutes. The cave started widening. Then, the cave fully opened into a full room. My eyes widened. There were hundreds… no, thousands of items strewn about: Tables, chairs, cups, plates, silverware, all made from pure gold. It reminded me of the room from the end of National Bounty, but less organized. There were giant piles of golden artifacts stretching through the cavern, and the room was the size of two football fields!

I saw so many pieces of gold… but pink. I shook off my own brain, which was calculating"L-Lion?" I called into the room. No response.

I looked to the ground for footprints, and they were here. There didn't seem to be any exits besides the one we came from. Besides, why would Lion just have all this gold lying around? In that way, the national bounty metaphor didn't work. The gems, they didn't care about things like money. If they did, they could sell their duplication ray to humans and make millions. All this gold was worthless to them, and I didn't see why id would be any more important to something like a Lion. This room, it almost reminded me of… "An antechamber…"

"What?"

"This place. This gold, it's to keep out intruders! If anyone happened to get through that wall, they would get here and steal all the riches. Leading whatever's behind this room completely safe." Although, if that assumption was right, what the heck would be in the _real_ chamber if the antechamber was like _this?_

Steven nodded hesitantly. I think he was a bit overwhelmed by all the gold, too. "Then let's find the door."

As we searched the room, I heard another distant clank, then, I heard a distant crash. I heard another metallic sound, like the ones from before the false door. And this time, it was closer.

I grabbed Steven's hand, ignoring the sensory overload that came with it, and ran through the clusters of gold, following Lion's footprints. Over this table. Under this one. He leapt over this stack. All the while, whatever was coming got closer and closer.

We reached a point where the gold was piled so the only way through was over it or through it. Lion had leapt over it, but we didn't have that ability. So, we found a spot that seemed like it was open to go through and walked right in. As I scrambled under another pile of golden wreckage, I felt a pull from behind me, through the link. "What's wrong?" I said.

"Connie? How did you get through there?" Steven said. I looked back. In the spot I had just crawled through, a chair leg was sticking through. It blended in with all the rest of the gold from the outside, but from the inside, it made it impossible to pass. Which made it all the weirder I was on the other side of it.

"Maybe it fell after I squeezed through?" I said. That was the best explination I could think of.

"I was watching. You went right through it."

"That can't be true."

"I saw it with my own eyes, Connie."

"Look, it isn't important right now. We need to get out of here before it gets here!

I backed up to see if I would go through it again, but it was unyielding. The two of us pushed and pulled, but the more we struggled, the more stuck we got. All the while, the metallic sounds got closer and closer.

I realized we wouldn't escape in time. We were trapped, helpless. That left only one option. "Get down and don't say a word," I said. The perpetrator entered the room. I slid Steven the sword, so he'd be the one fighting, not the one likely to get immediately incapacitated by her senses.

The sounds got louder and louder, closer and closer. I braced myself for whatever was coming. Could it have been the shadowy figure? The mastermind behind everything?

The perpetrator drifted past, and I caught a glance at him. And it was the same robot that tried to kill us earlier.

"Didn't we already kill him?" I said.

"SHH!" Steven said.

The robot turned to our pile of gold. The two of us were silent. We couldn't run, only hide and hope for the best. Even with an easy foe like this, if we were pinned, we couldn't exactly do anything to fight back.

It summoned a tractor beam from its front and started picking pieces of rubble out of the way.

Steven and I had the same idea at the same time.

It pulled piece after piece away. As it was reaching for another piece, one that would uncover us, Steven kicked the chair. It wiggled slightly. The Robot retracted its beam on the previous object and picked up the chair instead. While it searched that chair, silently, Steven and I slipped through the rest of the pile while the robot kept searching where we were.

 _Where's the exit?_ Steven said.

 _I can't tell. We lost the trail of Lion's footprints!_ I said.

 _Can't we fight that thing again and be done with it?_

 _Something about it seems different. I don't trust it. It's being more methodical._

 _Is it? Fine, I've been with you long enough to trust your judgement._

We had to sneak around the room, careful not to make a sound. We searched the walls for Lion's footprint. The robot finished digging through that pile of gold and slowly circled the room. Every time it hovered close to us, we got down and didn't move a muscle. Every time we had to dart from pile to pile, it was a gamble. We never got caught, but I felt like we should've been multiple times.

It hovered close to the pile we were squeezing through, and stopped. Like it knew we were in that pile. We stayed still and didn't make a sound. A blue bean spawned from its center and it started scanning our pile. I had the feeling it would find us if the beam reached our location.

I quickly, silently, pulled off my shoe and threw it at another pile of gold through an opening.

The robot quickly turned and fired a shot at the pile. The gold it hit literally melted together.

During the distraction, Steven and I squeezed passed.

As the robot finished searching the pile we had been in with its blue laser, we found Lion's footprints, once again leading right into a wall.

Only one problem: there was no rubble to distract the bot. If we ran for it, we'd have to go and hope for the best, with nothing to protect us.

 _On three, we run and ram your metal hand into the wall._ Steven said.

I was about to nod, but I froze. _Wait, why my hand?_ I said.

 _Because it's way more durable, and won't break if we're wrong and the door doesn't move for us._

I silently sighed. _Let's get this over with…_

 _3… 2… 1…_

We sprinted out of our cover and aimed for the spot that had Lion's print on it. I braced my arm for impact. And I sailed right through the wall. Literally. The wall was still there, but I went right through it. I was jerked backards, though, because Steven didn't go right through it, and he rammed into it behind me. Did I just… go through a wall? Okay, that's a pretty cool power. I just wish I knew about it _beforehand!_

Stupid. Link.

Wait, was Steven okay? Oh my god, he was alone in that room with the robot!

 _Steven?_ I called.

 _Connie!? What happened?_

 _I don't know. I-_

Steven's thought interrupted mine. _The Robot saw me! What do I do!?_

 _Quick, open the door!_

 _It's coming fast. I can't run away! How did you get through!?_

 _Just press on the thing!_

 _That didn't work for you!_

 _Just do it!_

No response. On the other end of the door, I heard Steven's sword clash against the robot. I had to help! I tried to get back through the door. I pressed my body against it, nothing. I ran at it in the little space I had, nothing. I fingered it with my robotic hand, but no matter what I tried, I couldn't phase through it the other way.

If this stupid power was going to be so darn inconsistent, I guess fighting was out of the question. But that didn't mean I was helpless. I could look for a way to open the door on our end at the very least. I scanned the wall for an indentation, somewhere to press on. My eyes jumped all over the place, I had trouble focusing. What good were these senses if I couldn't even use them to find a way to help Steven?

Finally, I found a spot that was slightly different from the rest. Careful to concentrate and not phase right through it, I pressed my hand against the wall.

Just before I could take a whack at it to try to open the door, the door swung open all on its own, knocking me, and due to the link, Steven, backwards down the corridor. I think Steven opened it in the first place, not me. The two of us rolled down the cavern.

As we rolled, I caught a glance at the tin-can robot. Even with its goofy design, it was somehow terrifying when there were red eyes on it. It rammed into the door just as it closed.

The two of us hit a wall on the other end of the hallway.

Pain. My entire mind was occupied by pain. God, I hated this 'new power.'

As my vision blurry back into existence, my eyes flickered around frantically. Was Steven okay? He was lying at my side. Tired, but fortunately not injured. My next thought was the robot. Was it here? Again, the situation was fine. I heard a clank as it hit against the wall. My eyes saw the structural stability holding firm. The wall would hold for a few minutes.

Okay, the situation was safe. With that ensured, I turned to Steven. "What just happened?"

"We aren't fighting that thing," he said. He was a mix of terrified and… disappointed?

"…What?"

"That isn't the same robot we fought back when we first got here. I'm lucky to be alive."

I didn't press him for any more details. If he didn't want to tell me about the fight, he wouldn't. But if it scared Steven, I couldn't help but imagine what it could have possible been like.

He dusted himself off and we quickly continued down the cavern, getting as much of a head start as we could before the robot inevitably broke through the wall. "How did you end up getting through the door, anyways?" I said.

"I was losing," he said, doing nothing to reassure me about the threat of the robot. "Somehow, I managed to hit the button." He seemed off. His emotions told me he was more disappointed than angry now, but I couldn't figure out why. Just because we were connected emotionally didn't mean I could read his mind when he didn't want me to.

"Steven, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong."

As we jogged through the cave, I was silent for a second, letting his statement sink in. "Protip: don't lie to someone who can _read your emotions."_

He sighed. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Emotional honesty, Steven. Remember?"

"Yeah, I remember…" He stayed silent. I waited to see if he would answer.

"Steven, I want to help," I prodded.

"Is this the best time? While we're on the run for our lives?"

"This isn't the first time we've talked while on the run for our lives."

"It's just… I failed. I fought the robot we so easily defeated, and I failed."

"…That's it?"

"Don't _that's it_ me! Remember when you defeated the giant gem bird all on your own? That was a much harder target and you did amazingly. I'm useless compared to you."

Did… did Steven just call himself useless?

I stopped running. Steven was forced to stop as well.

"What are you doing!? It's going to catch us!" he said.

"It hasn't even broken through the door yet. Now you, take that back right now."

"Connie, we need to go!"

"No, we don't. Take it back."

He stomped his foot. "Well, it's true! Who's the one who defeated the bird? You. Who's the one who took down the Beetle? You. Who's the one who took down the Lapis clone? You. I'm a deadweight."

"That's not true! You, um… you trained me during the fight with the Cerberus!"

"Great. One point for me, huh? And when I gave a chance again, I blow it."

"You've given me so much emotional support!"

"And when it comes to battling, I'm still useless."

I kept trying to think of something to tell him. Because he wasn't useless, anyone could see that. Well, I guess anyone except him.

"Come on," he said. "We need to get going."

He grabbed my hand. And he went right through it.

I scowled. "Again?" I muttered. Couldn't we go back to when powers were something cool?

Steven grabbed for it again, and again, he went right through it. I extended my robot arm instead. If life was going to throw me something like this, I had another hand.

Steven didn't go through that one.

"What was…?"

"Nothing," I said. I stuffed my real hand into my pocket. Oddly, my hand seemed a little bit lighter or something.

"What's going on with you? Emotional honesty, remember."

"Honestly? I don't know." It was the truth, of course.

With an emotional disconnect between us that I'd never really felt before, we continued into the cavern. The cave started to open up, just like it had as we went into the antechamber. We were approaching another room, and something told me this was going to be that last one. Lion had to be here. And at this point, I just hoped we could go home. The Robot could keep wandering the cave for all I cared.

Tensions were high. My powers were going haywire. Lion was near. Whatever was hidden deep inside the cave was near. And I knew a confrontation was coming.

So much was waiting around the bend. I heard the robot finally crash through the wall as we entered the final room. I might've hoped for peace, but I expected a fight…

* * *

 _A/N: AAAAAND the headcannons start here. Well… actually, the headcannons started with Lapis' backstory. I guess the plain made-up stuff starts here, then. It's hard to have dramatic set pieces when all of them have to be made from stuff in the show, right?_

 _Anyways, I don't care if it isn't in the show, it's cannon to my story that Rose built this side path to the cave and stuffed it with gold, and not even Pearl knows. She already had a ton of secrets, what's one more, right? Plus, trust me, there's something worthwhile at the center…_

 _Thanks for the positive feedback on the last one chapter. Hope this convinces you that I'm back, and I'm here to stay!_

 _Feel free to speculate what's going on with Connie. Trust me, it's a little more than just a new superpower this time… as maybe evidenced by the end of the chapter. Mwahahahaha…_

 _Remember to review or whatever._

 _By the way, newcomers, welcome! You know, if you exist. Hope you're enjoying the story so far! You know, pretty cool of you to read a full-length novel like that just because it had 50 follows. Oh, yeah, and this story would easily be a novel at this point! How cool is that!_

 _Next time: We find out what's at the center of the complex. Then an awesome battle scene, of course. Duh. And prepare for what I believe to be an awesome twist. That's what this series thrives on, right? See you guys then._


	22. The Center of the Cavern

The Center of the Cavern

The cave opened up to a massive room. Maybe a little smaller than the room filled with gold, but just as… mysterious. Suspended throughout the air, bubbles graced the sky, all pink, all filled with various gems. There were only around 50 of them, way less thn in the temple, but… what were they doing here? Was there someone else out there, hunting down corrupted gems? Why would Lion have … no, this clearly wasn't owned by Lion. He didn't even have opposable thumbs. Why would whoever put this here in the first place have so many gems bubbled here? What was going on? And how did Lion know about all of this?

Before I had a chance to think any more, I felt something running through my bones. It was a chilling sensation. I looked down, and I saw my body shimmering slightly, but it immediately went back to normal. I shook it off. Still, something here felt off. I wanted to get out of here…

As I thought, I heard a clanging sound off in the distance. It reminded me of the impending time limit. No time to think, now. We needed to get out of here.

I looked around the cavern for Lion. But… he wasn't here? _Don't tell me this is another antechamber…_ I thought. But no, thihs was much worse. Lion's footprints were scattered all over the room, more than seemed reasonable. But there was one exit. They walked up to a wall, but there were no footprints on the wall itself. Furthermore, judging by the footprints, Lion started running before the wall this time, unlike every other dead end we'd come across. Like he'd lead us all the way here ran several laps around the room for no reason at all, then warped away.

All this, through my enhanced vision, I analyzed in about a second.

"Lion!?" Steven called, clearly not reaching the same conclusions as me.

"He's not here," I said.

Steven slumped down. "Really?"

"This room's a dead end."

Steven thought that over for a few seconds. Then, he realized what I had earlier: we couldn't run from the robot any longer. Fear slipped into Steven's eyes again. I met them with mine. "Steven, we're doing this together. Who cares if you couldn't fight it alone, we're a _team._ If you couldn't take that down, I wouldn't have been able to, either. Come on, let's bring this robot down, together."

"But you don't have any weapons, we can't fight _together._ It's one of us or the other one. That's not teamwork!"

I raised my metal arm. "I don't know, this thing seems to pack a pretty good punch."

I heard another clang. The robot was getting closer.

"You don't understand. That… thing. It could predict every move I made. I barely survived with my life."

"You're saying it the hardest thing you'd ever faced?"

"Y-yes!"

"Then, I say bring it on."

"What?"

"Honestly, it's an upgrade. I'd rather be focusing on a fight than all the other stupid stuff. My senses, the anticipation, your feelings, no offense. I'm just saying, I'd rather be in danger for my life than having stupid maybe that'll get my mind off it."

Steven didn't seem to like my attitude, but he didn't say anything.

The two of us entered combat positions. We had a pretty big lead, but the robot would be entering any minute. We avoided talking about our emotions anymore, we talked about strategy instead.. We had no ranged attacks, so staying at a distance wouldn't work. Playing defensively wouldn't work, either. It's hard to 'tire out' a robot. Our best bet was to rush in, guns blazing.

Another chill ran down my spine. I saw my body blur for a second, then solidify again. It lasted a little longer than last time.

"Are you okay?"

I pushed him away. "I'm fine." We could worry about that later.

We stood by the door, holding our breaths. And then, the robot burst in.

We launched a sudden, swift strike, before it saw us coming. One sword, one arm. I expected the robot to dodge… but it didn't. The robot didn't stand a chance. It flew across the room, and didn't get back up.

I stared in disbelief. "You were scared of _that?"_

"It was more threatening when I didn't catch it by surprise…"

I sighed. "Well, there goes that distraction. I guess we backtrack and try to find Lion out there? Otherwise, I bet it's a long journey to a warp pad…"

I heard a rumbling from behind us. The robot was slowly floating upwards. Again.

"Seriously?" Steven and I said at the same time.

Steven and I exchanged a short look. Before the Robot could fully rebuild itself, the two of us charged again. In a sudden burst of speed, it burst upwards towards the ceiling, stopping right before it hit a floating bubble. From up there, it fired a shot at us. We swerved to the left to avoid the projectile, and my vision slowed down. I looked at the projectile. As we dodged left, towards us as we dodged, going in for a direct hit. My slow vision activated, I grabbed the sword from Steven's hand and parried the shot, right back at the robot. The shot missed, though, the robot carefully maneuvered out of the way, making sure to avoid the bubbles and the shot. The shot itself only barely missed all the bubbles floating through the room, hitting a cave wall.

"…Thanks." Steven said, breathing heavily.

"Don't mention- AAAH!"

Another chill ran down my body. I shimmered again, literally glowing slightly. The sword I had been holding phased right through my hand, dropping to the floor.

Another shot rained down on us, and my vision slowed down, even though there was nothing I could do. I was still shimmering, I sensed the shot was going to go right through me. I was safe. But Steven had no way of getting out of the way, and he couldn't grab the sword in time.

Steven held his hand outwards, and Rose's shield burst from his gem. The shot exploded into smoke.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, right before my eyes, the shield shattered. Not disintegrated, shattered. The robot had taken an opportunity. Seeing our blindness, it charged, head first, using its own body as a weapon. It smashed through the shield and headed right at Steven's body. Neither of us had any chance to block it. My body was still shimmering, I couldn't touch anything. And Steven's concentration was completely broken. His mind wasn't slowing down like mine was, he couldn't possibly do something in time. Even with my slow-motion eyes, there was nothing I could do to stop the robot ffrom connecting to Steven's body at the speed of a car. The momentum pulled me with him across the room.

My body solidified just after we connected with the small wall. That was a small consolation, I guess, my body was still untouched. But the pain Steven fed me through the link was almost unbearable thanks to the amplifying effect of my increased senses.

I struggled to get up, as did Steven. The robot didn't care, it fired another shot. Finally physical again, I was up enough that I could knock the ball aside with my metal arm, right back at the robot. It dodged the attack, but I had made it wary. Still, our sword was being defended by the robot. The moment I phased out again, we were in huge trouble. We were fighting an uphill battle, now.

After that, the robot kept its distance as we got up. Steven was visibly injured. I glanced over at him. "Are you okay?" I said, concerned.

Through heavy breaths, he managed to say, "I'm fine." He glared over at the robot.

The robot fired another shot our way. I punched it right back at him. Again, he swerved, but this time, I noticed something a big strange about his movements. It was like it was doing everything in its power to avoid the bubbles.

My eyes figuratively sparkled.

Steven glanced over at me. "You have a plan?"

"Yep."

" _Tell me what I can do to help,"_ Steven said through telepathy. It was a lot faster, and we weren't exactly going great when it came to time.

" _I'll cover you. This metal arm should cover the both of us. First things first, we need to get your sword back! You, grab for it, just in case I decide to phase out of existence again."_

Steven nodded. Together, we charged the robot. I realized a flaw in the plan. If I phased out of existence as a shot headed our way…. I shook my head. That was a big if. We would deal with it then. Steven had his shield, anyways. The robot fired three shots off at us in quick succession. With my gem giving me the slowing vision effect, I effortlessly deflected them, firing all three straight back at the robot. Again, it narrowly dodged. It was staying up in the bubbles so we couldn't attack it directly, which seemed to be a smart choice for it, but since it was so limited in its movements with the bubbles all around, we still had the advantage.

And if it chose to just charge us again, I was ready.

You know, it was weird. I guess I was getting used to my super-senses. I used to be overwhelmed at every little thing, like during the initial fight with the robot, but I guess sometime during the journey, I got a little better at handling them. Huh. That was convenient.

Before the Robot could do anything more to defend it, Steven swooped down and picked up the sword. He was still sore, I could feel it, but he was pushing through the pain.

And he thought he was useless.

"What now?" he said. "Do you want us to pop a bubble or something, use it as a weapon?"

"No! We don't want to have to deal with a corrupted gem _and_ that thing. All we have to do is make sure it doesn't kill us, right? It's nearly invisible, so maybe killing it's unfeasible to attempt to destroy it, but it seems to be programmed to not touch the bubbles. I think we can abuse that. If we can get it somewhere it's surrounded by bubbles, it won't be able to escape!"

"Great idea! …And how do you suggest we do that?"

"Watch," I said.

The robot tried to fire a surprise attack at us. But if your brain speeds up whenever an attack is launched at you, you don't simply get caught by surprise. I deflected the attack with my arm, again right back at the Robot. As the bolt flew through the air, and any bubble it was going to hit, it pushed out of the way. That was why no shot had hit any of the bubbles: they physically couldn't hit the bubbles! That was why nothing had popped during the battle. The robot's shots ignored them, the robot avoided them, and we were too far away to affect them!

Steven watched as the bubbles were pushed out of the way. "Got it," he said.

The robot didn't seem to know what to do. With that shot, I had closed off its entry point. It was lost in a maze of bubbles. Every now and again it fired a shot off at us, but we just used those to close off its escape routes. A few times, I turned intangible, and each time lasted longer and longer, but Steven was doing just fine. I was getting a bit worried…

Still, after about 5 minutes, the robot was fully encased in bubbles, completely trapped. Steven and I gave each other a high-five. Of course, we went right through each other, I was currently intangible. We laughed.

As the robot searched for an exit, we walked out of the room.

"How did you find that guy a threat, anyways?"

"It was harder when I was pinned to a wall and didn't have someone watching my back."

"You're welcome."

"…For what?"

"For watching my back!"

"Oh." He chuckled. "Yeah, thanks," he said. But he was suddenly looking more down.

"Is this about what you were talking about yesterday?"

"Yeah…"

"You know, I probably couldn't have beaten that thing on my own."

"Only because you're trying to master _another_ new power."

"No, not just because of that! Without you there, I wouldn't have survived long enough to form a better plan."

"It was still your plan."

"Whatever! It doesn't matter that much."

"Well, to me it does."

I sighed. Why couldn't Steven get that he was just as strong as me?

"Could you walk a little bit faster, Connie?" Steven said.

"Sorry," I said.

I tried to pick up my pace, but I felt like I was moving through syrup all of a sudden. I could keep pace with Steven, but I was using way more energy than I should've. Something… something was wrong.

I was about to tell Steven about it, but then, I heard something, off in the distance. The growling of a lion. Or, a Lion, capital L.

"…Lion?" Steven said.

"You heard it too?" I said. It was pretty faint for me. That was weird. Why wasn't I hearing it so much louder than him? Didn't I have super-hearing? Still, I could worry about it later. For now, we found Lion. Or, we found his voice.

As we travelled to find lion, I kept feeling heavier and heavier. One of the chills ran down my spine, and I felt super light again. We picked up our pace for the few minutes of normality. We reached the entrance to the golden room, broken down by the now-imprisoned robot. At that point, I phased back in, stopped glowing. And when I came back, I was overcome with an intense weight, all over me. I collapsed onto the floor, unable to move any further.

"Connie!" Steven said. He rushed to my side. It wasn't far, of course. "What's wrong!?"

"Heh… I seem to be drifting away." My body shimmered again, and it wasn't stopping. And this time, I didn't feel any lighter. I felt a pulling sensation.

My vision started blurring. I had trouble thinking clearly.

"No, don't go! Are you dying!? Don't die, Connie! You've made it this far, come on! You can't be dying!"

I saw a pink figure approach. Lion. How did he get into the antechamber…? How did he get out of the bubble chamber…?

"Lion!" Steven said. "Where were you? Why did you lead us on this giant wild goose chase? Look, never mind that, something's wrong with Connie! We need to get back to the gems, they might be able to help!"

Steven grabbed for my hand, and he went right through it. I continued to glow lightly, my body starting to shake. I looked at my hand. It was like it was made of two images, swapping back and forth rapidly.

What the heck was happening to me?

Maybe Steven was right. Maybe this was what death felt like. I kind of expected it to be a lot more painful. Steven kept pulling at my hand, desperately trying to get me up. He kept going right through me. I guessed this was it. Not death to some gem creature. I wouldn't even know why I died before I did.

I used all the energy I had to lift my right hand. And I frox that way, not even having the energy to put it back down.

Lion walked up to me and touched his nose to my outstretched hand, and suddenly, everything came back to me. My body stopped shimmering. I stopped glowing, I solidified. My senses went back to normal. Heck, my senses were supercharged again! Suddenly, I could see every crevasse in the cave wall, which I just now realized I hadn't been doing ever since we reached the bubble room

Actually, I think my senses had been fading for a long while, now. Slowly getting worse and worse as I faded away. I guess that was why Steven could hear Lion just as well as me when he called out into the cave, my senses were on the way down. And no wonder my last fight went so well! My senses were back to normal by that point, I wasn't going to get overwhelmed! I mean, going invisible notwithstanding. And that meant my next fight would go abysmally again!

Steven covered his mouth. "Connie! You're okay!"

I propped myself up on Lion. I kind of wondered why I was suddenly better, though.

"Yep," I said, simply enough. "Dunno why, but I guess I'm okay."

I started to walk away from Lion. But the moment my hand left Lion's face, everything came back. My senses dulled, I started glowing, my body started fading. I quickly placed my palm on Lion's mane again, and I was back to normal.

"W-what happened?" Steven said.

"I… don't know." I said. I lifted my finger for 10th of a second from Lion's mane, and in that instant, I felt myself begin to drift away. It was like being connected to Lion anchored me to the world.

"What the hell…?" I said. Before Steven could answer, we heard, off in the distance, a metallic sound.

Somehow, the Robot had escaped.

"Lion, get us out of here," Steven said. "We can't afford to fight, not like… this."

Lion didn't listen. He looked back at the room filled with gold.

"Come on, Lion…" I whined. "You already lead us on once and then abandoned us, don't do it again."

Lion turned to us, and he gave me a look of confusion. Almost like he didn't understand what I was saying. I knew he spoke English, he'd responded to it before. But he still didn't understand what I was saying.

"You know, the trail! The footprints!?"

Lion looked at his feet. And… they didn't have any dirt on them. They weren't leaving a trail. He walked so lightly, he didn't leave a single print.

…What? Then what was with the trail, then?

Suddenly, I understood. This whole time, we had been following the wrong trail. We had been following tracks made by Lion long ago. Although, that brought up the question: where had Lion been the whole time?

My eyes settled on Lion. He looked at the trail at the footprints scattered across the ground. He looked deep into the cave.

Suddenly, as I touched him, I felt a sharp pain in my palm. I couldn't check it, that was the hand on Lion. I didn't want to drift away!

Steven was staring at his own hand. The pain got more and more intense. I switched my hands on top of Lion's body, placing the metal one on his mane, and I looked at my hand. The hourglass. It was spinning on my palm. "Steven, now is _not_ the best time to have a flashback!" I yelled.

"This isn't me! I was about to tell you the same thing!"

The two of us swiveled our hands and looked at lion. He was still staring deep down the cavern.

From behind, I saw a tear drip to the floor.

The hourglass jumped off my palm, and I was engulfed in Lion's memory.

* * *

The pink haired woman led me through the cavern, like she had so many times before. I made a game of following the footprints of my past selves, making sure to make only one trail. It was fun. But my attention kept drifting to the pink lady. She seemed oddly… sad today. As we reached the shiny room, the one filled with all the clutter, she paused and took a shaky breath. I rubbed against her leg. She looked down at me.

"Oh, Enris. I love you, too."

I looked up at her with round eyes.

"I'm fine, Enris. You don't need to give me those eyes."

The pink haired girl sounded sad. I rubbed against her leg again, and started purring.

"Really. I'm fine, boy. You don't need to cheer me up."

I could feel the sadness in her voice. I kept rubbing against her.

"Look, it's complicated." She patted her belly. "I was so sure about this all the way up until now, but now, it's going to be any day, now. I'm happy, but at the same time, I might never by me ever again, you know?"

I didn't really understand what she was saying. Closer? But I felt a longing in her voice. I gave her a sympathetic low growl.

"I know, you're going to miss me. I'll miss you, too. But even if I wanted to change anything, it's too late, now."

She walked ahead to the door, and pushed hard on the spot on the wall. It swung upwards.

I was confused. What did she mean, 'miss her?' I pressed against her leg for more information, but she didn't say anything, just slowly pet me as she walked onwards.

After a few more minutes of walking, we reached the room filled with pink bubbles. I had fond memories of this room. The pink woman always told me great stories in here.

She didn't disappoint, today. "Did I ever tell you how all these gems got here, Enris?"

She had, but I shook my head. She clearly wanted to tell a story, I was always happy to hear them.

"It was just after Bismuth… well, I've told you what Bismuth did. I found a group of followers, people who thought the same as Bis. I tried to reason with them, as I did with Bismuth. I tried to tell them what we were fighting for, but they wouldn't listen. How could I have let a resistance to my own resistance be right under my nose the whole time!?"

I put my face to her hand. She started to pet me.

"I know, I shouldn't blame myself. But it doesn't mean I'm not guilty that I poofed all of them and hid them away in this cavern! Even if I had no choice. They turned against me while I tried to reason with them. They wanted a leader who would take matters into their own hands, who'd be willing to go all the way, and that wasn't me. Somehow, even though there were so many of them and only one of me, I managed to take them all down. I regretted that ever since. Maybe I could've said something to calm them all down. And maybe I should've gotten help. I was too busy thinking, what if, if I told all the rest of the gems what they thought, others would start to agree? And after what I did with pink…"

"I couldn't let everyone know of their ideologies. There wasn't room in your mane, so I found this cave and stored them here. And I know, I tell you this story every hundred years or so. And every time, I wonder, should I tell them? Should they know that maybe 5% of the resistance tried to kill me? And once again, I'm wondering, maybe I should tell the rest of the crystal gems, before Steven comes and its too late. But I've went thousands of years keeping this a secret. What would they say if I told them now?"

I wished I could give her advice, but I couldn't form human words. So, I comforted her.

I got my back ready, for her to teleport out on it, but Rose shook her head. "I think I'll warp back on a panel today, okay? I need some time to think. Don't worry, I'll see you tomorrow, for one last adventure." And she walked away, into the cave. So I sat, and waited.

* * *

The next day, I waited for her.

But she didn't come.

So I kept waiting. I waited the next day, maybe she had just forgotten. And when she didn't show up then, I waited until the next day. I waited. I didn't have to eat, I didn't have to drink, I just waited for the pink haired woman to return.

Countless sleeps went by. There was no day or night here, just relative darkness to the outside sun. I counted to a hundred or so sleeps, waiting for her, then lost count. So I started counting again from the beginning. One day, two days, and when I lost count again, I started counting how many times I had lost count.

I got to nine or ten, but I lost count of how many times I had lost count.

One day, after an amount of time I don't know, I moved to the desert, the place where I first met her. Maybe she would find me there. Maybe I had been waiting in the wrong place. I started counting again, drawing numbers in the sand. But they just got blown away.

One day, pillars started erupting from the sand. That was something different. I sometimes played a game where I predicted where the next wall or pillar would form.

The very next day, a little boy arrived. He seemed normal enough. I almost ignored him. Then, I noticed that he had the same gemstone as _her._

Carefully, I approached the boy and his friend. And they approached me. I recognized the same kindness from then I had from the pink haired woman I had so long ago.

I made up my mind. I followed them home.

* * *

"Bring me somewhere quiet," the black-haired girl said. So I brought them to the cave where the Pink-haired woman left me. Because I knew that was quiet.

It was supposed to be the moment of truth. I had planned this for so long, bringing the two children to the room the pink woman cherished so much. To see if they remembered. But they cared more about themselves than the pink woman's legacy. Talking to each other, ignoring the world around them. I had tried so hard, and-

No, I was being selfish. This wasn't because they didn't care, it was becasue black-haired kid was hurting. I needed to put aside my personal goals and accept that. They needed help. Even if the pink-haired woman didn't want anybody else to see the cavern, I knew she would make an exception in this senario. As the two of them started walking towards the center of the room, while they weren't paying attention, I warped away.

I directed my warp at the beach house, and I appeared right next to the door. Three strange-colored people jumped backwards. Purple, brown, and brown.

I looked at them frantically, then the back of my body.

It took a long time to get any of them to understand what I was saying. They were scared, then confused, then angry, never getting that I was trying to help. But one of them finally understood. The one that resembled the black-haired kid asked if I knew where 'Connie' was and I nodded. I thought Connie was one of the two kids or something. She jumped on my back without any further hesitation.

The other two, the ones with gems in their bodies, seemed concerned for her safety, but they didn't jump on. I shrugged. I only needed one for moral support. If they wouldn't join, so be it. I had someone that might be able to help the black-haired kid.

With her on my back, I warped back to the cavern before the two shine-people could react.

When I arrived in the cavern, it was a mess. There was rubble everywhere, and the kids were nowhere to be found.

I was frustrated with myself. A fight had broken out and I was gone!? How could I have let this happen!? This was supposed to be a safe place, not falling apart!

I heard a metallic sound. It kind of sounded like Rose's defensive robot.

They were being attacked. My personal doubts had to wait.

The human woman, though, she seemed scared. I looked off into the cavern, then back to her. I didn't want to abandon another human…

"What are you waiting for? Don't worry about me, I can catch up. Go, save them!"

I nodded. Now was the time for me to make up for my earlier shortfalls. And so, I ran off into the cavern, desperate to save the two kids.

And just maybe, I would find the pink haired woman, waiting for me to return…

One day, she had to return, right?

Maybe it was today.

Hopeful, I ran off into the cavern.

* * *

The hourglass spun in front of my vision and reattached to my palm.

* * *

 _A/N: I'll try to be brief, but I posted another Stevonnie fanfic (fic featuring the combo of Steven and Connie)! It's titled_ _Drawing a Prison_ _and it's about Steven and Connie getting permanently trapped in Rose's room, for (Seemingly) no reason. You know me, there's tons of intrigue as to why, mysteries building on more mysteries, and so on. If you like my style, I'd highly recommend checking it out. Currently, I'm three chapters in. So three free chapters of my style, right?_

 _That's my current focus fic, actually. I like writing about that one more than this one, currently. I'm not abandoning this one, I'll try to get chapters out here at least thrice a month. But if you want more content from me, I'd read that one. For now, I'll probably be posting chapters over there for every one over here. Anyways, check that out if you want._

 _The next chapter for this one should be out next week, so look forward to that!_

 _Be sure to post a review if you liked the chapter. What'd you think of the current twists? And as for the unanswered questions, you can post questions and theories and whatever. Yeah._

 _Next time: Time for some payoff for all the plot points I've been building. Connie's pulling away, Steven's doubt, Connie's senses. All in one giant fight scene. I promise, this time for real, it's going to be the end of this arc. See you then._


	23. Time Paradox

Time Paradox

 _A/N: Sorry this took so long to make. You might want to reread the past few chapters so you aren't confused as to what's going on. I suggest at least skimming the last one, so you remember what's happening in this one._

* * *

I blinked several times, reeling from the implications of the flashback. Rose owned Lion? And what was she talking about, with the resistance, and about Bismuth? It didn't even answer why Lion was stopping me from fading! I had so many questions, but the only one who could answer them was hidden inside of Steven's gem.

Steven broke the silence. "…Enris? Is that your name?"

Lion dipped his head downwards in acknowledgement.

"I'm sorry Rose left you," he said. "She didn't mean to, I promise." Of course, Steven cared that Lion was okay. That was why he was my friend, he always put emotions before answers.

Lion raised his head and looked him in the eye. He wasn't sad, not anymore.

My ears darted towards the cavern we came from. I heard a distant clang, the sound of the robot. A flip switched in my brain. Answers and emotions could wait, we had a more pressing issue. It was hard to tell how exactly far away it was now that my super-senses were back, but I didn't bother sticking around to find out.

"Guys?" I said. "I don't mean to put a damper on your emotions, but can this wait until after we teleport out of here?"

Steven blinked a few times. "Why?" I narrowed my eyes. "Right, sorry. Super-hearing." Steven said. He and I both hopped on to Lion. "Alright, buddy. Could you portal us home?"

He looked towards the entrance of the cave. The direction of Mom.

"Oh, right," Steven said. "We need to pick up Mrs. Maheswaran."

I heard a louder bump. "Hurry!" I said. I didn't feel like fighting that thing if we didn't have any backup. Especially now that I was tied to Lion's back. A lot of sword fighting was about movement, so we were in a dangerous situation.

Lion took off into the cave. We went much faster on Lion, so we easily kept pace the robot.

We ran so fast, we almost ran over Mom.

Lion stopped on a dime before we hit her, and I was nearly thrown clean off. I only managed to keep my footing due to my combat training. Steven flew forward, caught by our link.

Mom flinched at the oncoming lion. When she opened her eyes, she saw me looking back.

"Connie!" she said.

"Mom!" I said. I almost jumped into her arms. But then I remembered my whole 'fading out of existence' thing. Also, the 'chased by a giant robot' thing. "Get on," I said in a more serious tone. "There's an angry robot after us, and we don't have the firepower to take it down."

She started to get on when she narrowed her eyes. "What was up with that stunt, earlier? You just leapt off the dock of the beach. Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?"

I growled. "Is arguing with me really necessary right now, mom? There's a giant robot incoming!"

"You ran off without an explanation! I think I deserve one now."

"Mom! What part of giant robot do you not understand!?"

She slumped her shoulders. "Alright, alright. But you'd better have something important to say once we get back home…"

I scowled. Sometimes, Mom was awfully contrarian. Even in the face of eminent danger like this.

She worked her way up Lion's back. I expected some strain, having to carry 2 children and a grown woman, but Lion handled us without complaint.

I looked down the vast cave walls. "Let's finally leave this place," I said. I patted Lion on the head to signal him to run.

Lion ran down the cave and created a portal, launching us into the realm that existed between space and time. Or at the very least outside of space. We travelled for a good thirty seconds. Nobody talked. I was still on edge, after so many rn-ins with the same robot.

It was a shorter journey than the way there. The portal opened out to a colosseum, supported high above a sea of white clouds. Oddly, it wasn't the one we trained with Pearl at. It was a completely different structure, but it had similar architecture. The real question was, why were we here and not in beach city?

"Um, Lion?" I said.

Lion said nothing, of course.

"Maybe I wasn't clear enough. When I said, 'get us out of here,' I meant 'Bring us to _beach city._ So bring us back to beach city! _"_

"Don't be so rude, Connie! You just have to ask nicely."

I loosened my body and rolled my eyes. "Fine. Lion, _please,_ bring us back to beach city."

Lion didn't move. I glanced down at him, and his eyes were shut, fast asleep.

"Lion!" Steven said. "What's wrong with you?" He tried one of lion's eyeballs open, but it fell closed.

I sighed. When Lion fell asleep, there was no changing his mind. "Sorry, mom," I said. "Looks like we'll be here for a little while."

I expected her to ask me what I did back at beach city, and I prepared an explanation. However, she simply didn't respond. Concerned, I looked towards the back of Lion. Fortunately, mom was still there, she wasn't lost to the abyss or anything. But she wasn't moving.

"MOM!?" For a moment, I was panicked, but I calmed down when I saw her breathing. I felt for a pulse, and she was fine. Just asleep.

I turned back to Steven. "Something must have happened in there," I said, gesturing to the tunnel behind us. Did you feel anything that I didn't? Like, an urge to sleep?"

He shook his head. "No, I didn't. _Something_ must have tired them out, right?"

I sighed. "What do we do now? Do we just wait until Lion-" I was cut when my ears twitched towards the portal we just exited. I heard a metallic sound. My entire body froze. "…No…" I muttered.

I looked past mom's body to the space behind Lion. The portal he used to get here was still open. Of in the distance, I saw the robot barreling towards us. Steven turned and saw the exact same thing.

I instantly ejected my sword from its spot within my robotic hand and handed it to Steven

Steven looked at the robot, then back at me. "You do it! I… I can't…"

I saw the hesitation in his eye, and I growled at him. "We don't have time for this! My senses alone make me unable to fight, and I can't fight if one of my hands is glued to Lion! That robot's going to reach the end of that portal any second, now, and you know it. You can fight. I've seen you do it. You are Steven Universe. You have the strength of a gem and the heart of a human. You. Do. Not. Give. Up."

"But-" Steven said. I could still see the pain in his eyes.

"Don't 'but' me," I said.

"But I can't!" he yelled. "I've fought it before, haven't I? When I was alone, I lost. If you hadn't swiveled the wall when you did, I would be dead! We barely beat it together last time. I can't fight without you…"

I glanced back at the portal. The robot was close. Maybe 7 seconds away from us. We couldn't run, of course. Even if I wasn't tethered to Lion, we had to protect mom's limp body.

"Yes, you can," I said. "You've had just as much training as me. If you failed the first time, it means you have even more reason to win this time." Steven just made his body smaller, tucked into a smaller ball. I still saw the hesitation… no, the fear in his eye. I felt it. If he thought he would lose, he would lose. That was one of the first lessons Pearl taught us. He needed to remember who he was. He needed to remember what it meant to be Steven Universe. I remembered the reason why I fought for him against the bird. The way I needed to protect him. A chill ran down my spine as I said, "If you fail this, you remember something. You're not fighting for yourself. You're fighting for both of us. Don't worry about _what if you fail_. Because you _won't_ fail. It's as simple as that. So how about we don't argue, and you FIGHT LIKE YOU MEAN IT!"

The Robot burst through the portal and fired a giant laser directly at us. Steven unfurled his body as his gem glowed, and Rose's shield summoned in front of him, expertly deflecting the shot.

Steven silently leapt off Lion and stood between it and me. Sword in one hand, shield in the other. I couldn't see his face anymore.

The robot rammed into Steven, head on. He lowered his body and endured the robot's immense weight through his shield.

A bubble formed around him, and he pushed the robot away.

The Robot fired another laser. Steven deflected most of the blast, but the tail end hit his shoulder. A searing pain coursed through my shoulder. His body recoiled, but he stood firm. It fired a few shots again, but he deflected each of them. The robot charged him again without warning. Again, he blocked. Again, pain coursed through our bodies under the stress of a robot that size. From under the shield, He reached his spare hand around and plunged the sword directly into its side.

The robot recoiled back, disengaging with his shield. It circled Steven, looking for an opening. But he always made sure his body was in between it and me. All I saw was his red shirt, blue pants in a silhouette form. With a sword in one hand and a bright pink shield in the other, he looked like a hero. The robot fired a few more shots, but Steven deflected every single one. The robot's red eyes seemed to get angrier by the second.

It charged again, and again, Steven blocked the assault and stabbed it. From that spot, and the place he stabbed the previous time, it sparked with electricity.

The process repeated. The robot fired more shots. Steven deflected them. It charged, and Steven stabbed. But this time, the attack was aimed much more delicately. The sword hit the robot's eye. He pulled the sword out, and the light faded. It was half-blind.

It fired another few lasers, and Steven deflected them all. When that didn't work, it didn't charge again. It stopped completely.

It hovered out of range of any of Steven's attacks. He stared it down. I couldn't see his face. For the first time in a long time, I had no idea what he was thinking. He shut himself off to telepathy. The robot, hovering in place, started flashing its single remaining eye, alternating between yellow and red.

"What's it doing?" I said aloud.

"It's planning something," Steven said. "Get down," he said.

Heart racing, I placed my body as close to the ground as I could. I sat with my back to Lion, and my front to Steven. He crouched down on one knee and held his shield in front of his body.

The robot's eye flashed faster and faster. Finally, the eye settled on red. From its mouth, it unleashed a massive laser, maybe a foot wide. It hit Steven's shield, head on. Through the link, I felt an immense pain in the arm Steven used to hold up his shield. Still, he held steady. The laser grew in diameter, to two feet, then three feet. The light deflected around the shield in a cone. All around us was surrounded by a deadly white laser. The laser might've kept growing further, but all we could see was a cone of white light. I could hardly open my eyes, it was so bright, though that was mostly due to my enhanced senses. My arm was on fire due to the link, I could only imagine how Steven's felt. Still, he held firm. The shield was the only thing stopping it from eradicating all of us.

Steven slid back a little bit, and he grimaced in pain. The laser didn't let up. He twisted his body to get a better grip on the shield and the floor. I caught a glance at his face. Steven's eyes were welled up with tears, and several tears had fallen down his cheeks already, signified by several lines of water running down his face. Had he been crying this whole fight?

"Don't give up," I said. "There has to be a way out of this!"

Steven glanced at me. Then, he began to sing.

* * *

(Slow at the beginning)

* * *

 _I'm not strong enough._

 _I've said it many times before,_

 _No-I'm not strong enough._

* * *

 _I'm not strong enough._

 _You want me to say more?_

 _I'm not strong enough._

* * *

 _I'm caught in a cone of my doubts,_

 _and they're pushing in._

 _These doubts,_

 _why do they cause me all this pain?_

 _I'm caught in a cone of my doubts,_

 _My confidence is so thin._

 _There's so much to lose…_

 _And so little to gain…_

* * *

I placed my hand on Steven's shoulder.

* * *

 _But I can't quit, now._

 _If I can't win,_

 _I guess I have to try harder._

 _No, I can't quit, now._

 _If it's a million to one to win,_

 _Then the one's the one for me._

 _I can't quit, now,_

 _If not for me,_

 _Then I fight for the ones who brought me this far._

 _I'll fight._

 _I'll fight for the person I want myself to be-eeee!_

* * *

(Musical spike, faster tempo)

* * *

 _Cause in the end, I will surpass my limits!_

 _In the end, I will beat you, I swear!_

 _In the end, I'll be the one to win this!_

 _Evil robot?_

 _I hope that gives you quite the scare…_

* * *

 _I…_

 _I'm not strong enough._

 _At least, not alone,_

 _I'm not strong enough,_

 _But I'm not on my own!_

* * *

 _Even when-it seems tough_

 _Even when-hope is lost_

 _It doesn't matter._

 _Because I will win at any cost!_

* * *

' _Cause In the end, I will surpass my limits!_

 _In the end, I will beat you, I swear!_

 _In the end, I'll be the one to win this!_

 _Evil robot?_

 _I hope that gives you quite the scare…_

* * *

 _(Music continues as the next part plays on)_

On the last lyric, Steven made his move. He put up a bubble around himself. Instantly, the pain shifted to our whole bodies. Despite the pain, his arms were free. Steven used his freedom to throw the shield he had summoned straight into the abyss of white. In an instant, I understood. Steven threw the shield to hit the robot. He wanted to distract it long enough for it to drop its laser. It flew for a second that seemed to last an eternity. As it flew, doubts clouded my thoughts. What if it missed? What if the shield disintegrated in the laser? What if it wasn't enough to fully distract it? But I pushed the thought away. It wasn't a question. It simply _had_ to hit its mark. As I thought that, the laser dropped. Even though he didn't know where the robot was, the shot rung true.

The robot, temporarily stunned, couldn't dodge any attack. Steven finished his plan, doing something I don't know if I'd have the courage to do. He threw the sword straight at the robot. The sword twirled through the air, and the shot rang true. It hit, directly into the robot's one good eye. The sword clattered to the ground, but the damage was done. The light faded from within the robot. It still hovered, but it couldn't see a thing. Steven and I went silent. The Robot spun around, but it was completely blind. It hovered around the arena, smashing into several pillars. If it approached, Steven's clenched fists told me he had a plan. But it didn't come anywhere close. It reached the edge of the platform and plunged down to earth. It could only hover, not fly, so when it didn't have ground beneath it, it plummeted to the earth. My super-senses heard it crash on the ground, thousands of feet below us.

"Is he gone?" Steven said.

"Yeah," I said.

Steven's legs shook, and he fell to the ground. I leaned forwards and caught his limp body. He was out cold. I could tell why; my muscles were aching from the feedback I received.

Over the next few minutes, I pulled Lion over to the sword. I picked it up and stood guard. If that Robot ever came back, I would be ready.

* * *

I looked to the ground at one point in time. I couldn't see how far up we were, but even the clouds were far below us. I think I knew why Mom had passed out. There wasn't enough air up here. I supposed my gem let me circumvent that.

About an hour after the fight, Lion woke up. He wasn't affected by the lack of air, I guess. From the look on his face, I could tell the reason he fell asleep. He was just tired because he'd made so many jumps in a row.

I sighed. "Lion, why did you teleport us here if you only had one jump left in you? Mom's not doing so well, can you get us out of here? And can you take us _home_ this time?"

He cocked his head, as if to say, "But I thought you didn't want to be at beach city."

"Lion, people change their minds!"

He cocked it further, as if to say, "They do?"

"Just bring us back already! I don't know how long Mom can last at this altitude."

Lion shrugged (in the best way a Lion can, anyways). I held Steven and Mom on Lion's back. Together, we went through another portal. It wasn't nearly as long as the last one, maybe lasting 8 seconds. The moment we entered the portal, I knew it was to the right place. I could hear the distant sounds of a nighttime beach city. The closer we got, the louder it got.

I took a deep breath. I'd been fighting a giant robot for the past few hours. I could stomach a little noise.

The portal let out to exactly where we left from hourse earlier, the beach in front of the beach house. It was dark out.

I heard many things around beach city. But through the noise, I made out the gems' voices. I focssed my ears towards hearing them.

I heard Pearl's voice. "What do you mean, you're sure they'll come back? You can't see their future!"

Garnet spoke. "I don't need to see the future to know they'll be okay. You need to have more trust in them."

"Connie dove off the side of the cliff!"

"For the last time, she's fine. Lion caught her."

"I'm not questioning that she's fine. I'm questioning her mental stability!"

"Lion?" I said. "Maybe we should go up there before they start actively attacking one another."

Lion climbed the steps leading to the two arguing gems. They didn't even notice our presence.

"Aren't we going to do something to find them? You keep saying they're okay, but you don't even seem to care! Fine, you know they're coming back, but what's stopping us from looking for them!?"

"How exactly do you _want_ me to find them, then?"

"I don't know, there has to be _something_ we can do!"

"You could try turning your heads," I said.

The two of them paused and slowly turned their heads.

I cut them off before they could say anything. "I know, I know, you have a lot of questions," I said. "But could they wait until mom and Steven wake up? I don't want to have to explain it twice."

* * *

Once Mom woke up, the group of us gathered around the beach house. Steven and I lay with our backs to Lion. First, I described the essentials, how my senses were going haywire and our tussles with the robot. I didn't go into detail on the cave itself, just the fact that the robot was chasing us. I was going to ask them the more specific questions later, about the bubbled gems and why I was disappearing. If I gave it all to them at once, they might've short-circutted their brains.

"After we figured out we were following an old batch of Lion's footprints, it was easy enough to follow them back to the source and reconnect with him."

Despite the hyper-generalized nature of it, Pearl held up her hands. "Slow down, this is a lot to take in. Let me get this straight: you're telling me you suddenly have super-hearing."

I winced at the noise. "Super-senses, yes," I said. "A little quieter, please."

"Fine, super-senses. And then your pet lion whisks you away to some a random cave and spent the next few hours fighting a robot, which was just kind of there."

"I guess you could sum it up like that," Steven said.

She rubbed her face. "I miss when you were asleep."

I nodded. Still, I was quick to brighten up. "At least Steven got his self-esteem back!" I said.

Steven gave me a high-five.

Pearl continued to rub her face. "A thousand years we've lived peaceful lives on this planet. Then you two come in here and you get attacked with five giant robots before breakfast."

I laughed. Then, I glanced over at mom to see if she was okay. She was slowly shaking her head in disbelief. "Sorry, mom," I said. "This has kind of been my life."

"Unbelievable," she muttered.

I laughed uneasily. "So, uh, remember earlier today, about how you said you were sorry, and you were okay with me going on adventures? That was nice, right?"

A hint of a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "Just _try_ to be safe, okay?"

Pearl interjected. "I don't mean to be rude, but you weren't done telling the story. What happened after you met up with Lion?"

I thought back to the events. "That's when it got weird. The link showed us Lion's memory!" Before I could say anything more, Steven's thoughts interrupted my voice. " _Don't tell her about the connection between Lion and Rose._ "

" _What?"_

Steven spoke up. "The link showed us what happened with Ms. Maheswaran, how she got to the cave, and how Lion was so confused when we weren't there. It was weird, mainly because I didn't even know it worked on animals!"

I didn't know why he was lying the vision, but I trusted his judgment. I nodded, agreeing with him. "Then, we met up with mom," I said, "and I fought the robot in a high-up arena. I was a bit unsure of myself, but I managed to fight. I blinded it, and it fell thousands of feet to the ground. I'm pretty sure it isn't coming back. This time, for sure."

"Congratulations, Steven!" Garnet said with a big smile. "You've come a long way in the past few weeks."

"Thank you," Steven said. Garnet was always so sweet to him.

Garnet walked over to him and pulled the two of us into a big hug. I realized what was going on a second too late. She pulled me away from Lion. Instantly, my physical form faded. That drifting sensation I had felt came back in full force. In an instant, all of my strength drained away. With what little strength I had, I reached my hand out to Lion. My fingertip touched his mane. My body reappeared, and I scampered back towards Lion.

Everybody stared at me.

"W-what just happened?" Amethyst finally said.

"I… I was trying not to worry anybody…" I said.

I gulped. I had a lot of explaining to do.

* * *

As I described my predicament, most everybody was still. Garnet, however, paced across the floor, staring intently at me. I described what exactly happened, and how it felt when I was drifting away. When I was done with my description, Garnet said two words:

"Time paradox."

"No!" Pearl said.

"Really!?" Amethyst said.

"W-what?" I said.

"That behavior. I've only seen it once before. It's a time paradox."

"But I haven't travelled through time! How could this have anything to do with a time paradox!?"

"It was in the middle of the war," Garnet said, ignoring my question. "Rose found an artifact with the ability to travel through time. I don't know what she did, but she went alone. When she came back, everything was fine, at that point. A few weeks later, she brought back some bad news. She… she told us that Bismuth was killed in an attack. Her gem was fine temporarily, but the next hour, a crack appeared on her gemstone, even though she didn't damage it. To the other gems, it was normal. But I saw something special about it. It glowed brightly, unlike any other gem before it. The other gems couldn't see it, only me. She tried to heal it, but the crack remained. Connie, I think that gemstone of yours gives off that same glow. Rose started feeling weaker and weaker, and the crack shined brighter and brighter. I think that's where the paradox was leaking from. She travelled to Bismuth's forge with me. She seemed to know something I didn't. She entered alone. She came back with a terrifying-looking weapon. It resembled a handheld drill. When she held it, she stopped fading. She carried it for a long time, hiding it under her dress. But it weighed her down in combat. One day, she seemed to break. She took the weapon and drove it into her own gem. The gem was unchanged, but the light faded. She had driven away the paradoxical crack by placing a real one. Then, she healed the real crack. She brought the strange apparatus back to Bismuth's abandoned armoury and sealed the door in a way only a Bismuth could open it. breathing heavily. I never asked her why."

Both Steven and I were thinking about Bismuth. I glanced at Steven. I could see in his eyes, he wanted me to stay quiet about that.

"I don't understand," I said. "I didn't travel through time."

"I don't know why it's happening!" Garnet yelled. I flinched backwards at the intensity of her statement. "Sorry," she said. "I don't know what's wrong. All I know is what's happening, I wish I could be of more help."

There was a long silence before anybody spoke up. "Don't you have _any_ ideas?" Pearl said.

Garnet shrugged. "Maybe the dream Connie remembered was a look into the future? If that was the case, I don't know why Lion would be the object that stops the paradox from collapsing and Connie fading away."

Mom sighed. "You guys are supposed to be the ones with the answers," she said. "Why do you always end up with nothing?"

Pearl narrowed her eyes. "Don't blame us for this. You think it's _our_ fault any of this is happening?"

Everybody started getting heated. They started speaking over each other. I tried to cover my ears, but it didn't help.

"I ENTRUSTED YOU WITH MY CONNIE…" mom said.

"YOU THINK YOU COULD'VE DONE ANY BETTER…?" Pearl said.

"CAN YOU HELP US, GARNET?" Amethyst said.

"CAN'T YOU STOP TURNING TO ME FOR HELP?" Garnet said.

I curled into a ball. I didn't know what was happening. All I could hear was anger, and fear, and sadness, and anxiety, and all things awful.

The voices continued, louder and louder. And then, Steven's voice cut through them all.

" **DON'T ANY OF YOU CARE ABOUT THE PERSON YOU'RE ARGUING ABOUT?!"**

The noise died down as everybody saw my curled-up form. "Sorry," I said. I slowly uncurled myself. "Stupid senses. I don't want to be some damsel in distress!"

Everybody spoke at once, trying to apologize for being so loud. Stuff like "I completely forgot about that" To "Don't blame yourself," to "We shouldn't have gotten so heated." Of course, that just made it loud again.

"Look," I said, cutting through the apologies. "I get it, you all forgot. But how abot yo just don't argue next time." A wave of energy left me, and I yawned. "Actually, can we do this tomorrow? After fighting I'm really tired, and I know it's going to be impossible for me to fall asleep."

Everybody quickly left the beach house. The gems went into the temple, leaving the door open so time would flow naturally. Mom left, not totally assured I was okay, but enogh that she trusted me to stay. Since I had to touch Lion, I stayed on his back.

"Hey," Steven muttered to me once we were alone in the beach house.

"Hey," I said.

"I suppose you want to know why I didn't want you to say anything?"

"To be honest, I completely forgot."

Steven chuckled. "I assume you want to know, right?"

I yawned again. "Sure, why not."

"It's probably dumb."

"I live for dumb."

He took a deep breath. "I don't know, the gems already have enough to think about. I think we're better off waiting for them to deal with this than give them even more."

"I might argue with you if I was less sleepy."

"I'm beginning to think you don't' care and just want sleep."

"Gee, where's you get that idea?"

"Night, Connie."

"Night, Steven."

I smiled. Sleeping, after that, was surprisingly easy.

* * *

 _A/N: I am so sorry about the droughts and delays this story has. My passion comes in waves. When I have it, I feel like it'll last forever, but when it's gone, it's gone. Hopefully this was worth the wait. I removed when it uploads from the title, so to not give false expectations. Welcome, new followers. I hope to not disappoint you guys as I have my old ones…_

 _This chapter… I had trouble writing it. I knew exactly what I wanted to write, but it always came out wrong. I used to read fanfic writers saying they rewrote the same story 8 times to get it right and I never got it. Well, now I'm in the writer's seat, and I understand. The plot was planned, yet it felt wrong. I had to completely rebuild the chapter from the ground up a few times before I was happy with it. I won't make any promises for the next one. At the latest, I'll try to get a chapter out a month, though. I don't abandon stories._

 _On a less serious note: On the diamond control panel in Jungle Moon, there was an infinity symbol. This story confirmed? :P_

 _Hope that all the time put into this didn't end up with a crappy chapter. Have fun with the answers, and the more questions the answers provide!_

 _Fave, follow, review. Not a demand, jst a request._

 _As for next time… well, there's only one thing I can think of that could make a time paradox occur. There's going to be a time-skip first, a bit of leadup, then, it happens. See you then!_


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